Are COVID-19 vaccines effective against Delta Variant? | Fusion - WeRIndia

The vaccination drive has been continuing across the world to protect against COVID-19. But, the question is whether the COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the Delta variant. This is because the Delta variant is one of the fastest variants of COVID-19, which rapidly spreads infection.

Though some researchers say that COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the Delta variant, others disagree, saying that they are not protective completely.

Recently, the University of Oxford and the Office for National Statistics conducted a study.

The study revealed that vaccines of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE lost their effectiveness against the Delta variant in the first 90 days after full vaccination.

The researchers concluded it after analyzing more than 3 million PCR tests from a random sample of people. They said that rather than depending on clinical trial data, studying real-world data would be beneficial to check the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. They conducted this survey for evaluating the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine against the Delta variant that became dominant this year.

Though the vaccines seem to lose their effectiveness, researchers agreed that vaccinated people have a lower risk of getting a severe infection than unvaccinated people.

Meanwhile, Indian Microbiologist and virologist Dr Gagandeep Kang said that COVID-19 vaccines are working effectively against the Delta variant. Hence, people need not rush for a booster dose.

Notably, the USA and the UK decided to give a booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccines to immunocompromised and elderly people to induce antibodies.

In this context, Kang said that people should not run for a booster dose as it does not assure protection though it may add a little benefit.

Last week, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) approved a study on the mixing of Covaxin and Covishield. The CMC, Vellore, will conduct the study. Earlier, an expert panel of the CDSCO recommended granting permission for this study.

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