iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
In a possible explanation of the rapid spread of the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV2 virus, a new study has found this particular variant to have a much higher ability to infect and to evade the immune response built through previous infections or vaccines.
As everyone is resuming their lives unaware of how dangerous the new COVID variants will be, a new study has emerged that says that the Delta variant has a much higher ability to infect and evade the immune response built through previous infections or vaccines.
In a study published in Nature journal, a team of researchers from India and other countries have found that the Delta variant (or B.1.617.2 lineage) was eight times more likely to escape immunity gained through AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines compared to the original virus.
In addition, the Delta variant was six times more likely to re-infect people who have recovered Covid-19.
The study also found “higher replication efficiency” in the Delta variant, giving it a better capability to infect and “potentially explaining the B.1.617.2 dominance”.
The study said that “increased replication fitness” and “reduced sensitivity” to neutralizing bodies, built either through natural infection or vaccines, had contributed to the rapid spread of the Delta variant in more than 90 countries.
The researchers also studied breakthrough infections amongst almost 9,000 fully-vaccinated healthcare workers in three Delhi hospitals.
A total of 218 workers at these hospitals had symptomatic infections even after taking both doses of the Covishield vaccine. The prevalence of the Delta variant in this cohort was found to be 5.45 times more than other variants.
After over two months of reducing the spread freshly infected cases, India on, September 9, Thursday reported 43,263 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours.
With this the country’s total coronavirus tally has jumped to 3,31,39,981, according to Union Health ministry’s data updated at 9 am. Of the total new cases recorded, Kerala reported a whopping 30,196 cases.
What’s giving hope is that the recovery rate is currently at 97.48%. In the last 24 hours, a total of 40,567 more people were discharged, taking the total number of people recuperated from Covid-19 to 3,23,04,618. This is more than the total number of cases in the country.
For detection of Covid-19, 53.68 crore samples have been tested till September 8, 2021. The country started a nationwide vaccination drive on January 16 this year. And so far, 71.65 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the country. Of this, 86,51,701 doses were administered during the last 24 hours.
