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New Delhi, India
When the COVID-19 pandemic exploded around the globe, scientists warned of dire consequences if the chain of transmission wasnât disrupted on time. We were warned that more dangerous variants would emerge and that vaccines may lose efficacy in the face of such mutations.
Now, a World Health Organization (WHO) official claims that COVID-19 vaccines are signalling reduced efficacy against the Delta variant of coronavirus.
Related video: Cases of Delta variant of Coronavirus rising in the UK
Even though the current vaccines are able to offer great protection against severe illnesses and significantly cut death rates, it is a worrying trend which could leave the vaccines completely ineffective against potential highly mutated variants. Highlighting the dangers posed by a âconstellation of mutationsâ, Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organizationâs (WHO) technical lead for Covid warned against giving the virus any chance to mutate further, media reports said.
Recently, the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) mutated further to create the Delta Plus variant, cases of which are being reported in India, where the original Delta variant was also first identified.
Why we should we wary
The Delta variant is highly transmissible and is listed as a âvariant of concernâ by WHO. Dangers of another wave continue to lurk in the shadows. India was able to bring down its caseload only recently, and cases in the United Kingdom have also shot up to 10,000 again.
And the more the virus is allowed to spread, the higher number of mutations we can expect. In the face of this, vaccines may or not be able to keep up, which is why breaking the chain of transmission is pertinent.
Transmission can be stopped by strict compliance with precautionary measures like masks, hand hygiene and social distancing. If a majority of the worldâs population is vaccinated against coronavirus, herd immunity could be reached. But with inequality in terms of access to jabs, universal vaccination seems unlikely in the near future unless developed countries dispatch life-saving jabs to developing countries on war footing.
Also read: Taiwan wants German vaccines. China may be standing in its way.
Also read: UK opens vaccines for 21-22 year olds, fearing rise of Delta variant