Britain says early signs of COVID-19 vaccine may not stop delta infection
There are early signs that people vaccinated with COVID-19 may be able to infect delta variants of the virus as easily as those who are not, UK public health said. Service (PHE) scientists said on Friday.
Consistent with the findings of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which raised concerns last week that vaccinated people infected with Delta could easily infect it, unlike other variants.
The highly infectious delta mutant has become the predominant coronavirus form worldwide, maintaining a pandemic that has already killed more than 4.4 million people, including more than 130,000 in the United Kingdom.
Vaccines have been shown to provide excellent protection against serious illness and death from Delta, especially in two doses, but vaccinated people infect others. There is little data on whether it can be done.
“Some first findings … show that the levels of virus in people infected with deltas that have already been vaccinated may be similar to those found in people who have not been vaccinated,” PHE said. Said in a statement.
“This can affect the infectivity of people, whether or not they are vaccinated. However, this is an early exploratory analysis and to see if this is the case, Further targeted research is needed. “
PHE said that of the Delta cases confirmed to have been hospitalized after 19 July, 55.1% were unvaccinated and 34.9% were vaccinated twice with the COVID-19 vaccine.
Nearly 75% of the UK’s population has been vaccinated twice, and the PHE states that “as the larger population is vaccinated, the relative proportion of people vaccinated in hospital increases. “.
Separately, PHE stated that another variant, known as B.1.621, first detected in Colombia, showed signs of evading the immune response caused by the COVID-19 vaccine or previous infections. rice field.
PHE has labeled the variant as “under investigation” but has not declared it a “variant of concern”. This is a specification that can trigger a strong policy response.
“There is preliminary laboratory evidence suggesting that vaccination and previous infections may be less effective in preventing (B.1.621) infection,” said 37 confirmed cases of mutation in the United Kingdom. I added that there was.
“But this data is very limited and needs further investigation. There is no evidence to suggest that it is more contagious than the predominant delta mutant.”
The highly infectious delta mutant has become the predominant coronavirus form worldwide, maintaining a pandemic that has already killed more than 4.4 million people, including more than 130,000 in the United Kingdom.
Vaccines have been shown to provide excellent protection against serious illness and death from Delta, especially in two doses, but vaccinated people infect others. There is little data on whether it can be done.
“Some first findings … show that the levels of virus in people infected with deltas that have already been vaccinated may be similar to those found in people who have not been vaccinated,” PHE said. Said in a statement.
“This can affect the infectivity of people, whether or not they are vaccinated. However, this is an early exploratory analysis and to see if this is the case, Further targeted research is needed. “
PHE said that of the Delta cases confirmed to have been hospitalized after 19 July, 55.1% were unvaccinated and 34.9% were vaccinated twice with the COVID-19 vaccine.
Nearly 75% of the UK’s population has been vaccinated twice, and the PHE states that “as the larger population is vaccinated, the relative proportion of people vaccinated in hospital increases. “.
Separately, PHE stated that another variant, known as B.1.621, first detected in Colombia, showed signs of evading the immune response caused by the COVID-19 vaccine or previous infections. rice field.
PHE has labeled the variant as “under investigation” but has not declared it a “variant of concern”. This is a specification that can trigger a strong policy response.
“There is preliminary laboratory evidence suggesting that vaccination and previous infections may be less effective in preventing (B.1.621) infection,” said 37 confirmed cases of mutation in the United Kingdom. I added that there was.
“But this data is very limited and needs further investigation. There is no evidence to suggest that it is more contagious than the predominant delta mutant.”