Delta variant of Covid surging in areas with low vaccination coverage, WHO warns
1 min read 18 Aug 2021, 08:03 PM ISTVaccines are clearly preventing increases in severe illness and death from the Delta variant, said WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan
PremiumCovid-19 cases are surging due to the transmission of Delta variant in areas where the vaccination coverage is low, reported Reuters, quoting World Health Organization (WHO) officials.
"Many of the places around the world where Delta is surging -- even in countries that at a national level have high levels of vaccination coverage -- the virus, the Delta variant itself, is really circulating in areas of low level of vaccine coverage and in the context of very limited and inconsistent use of public health and social measures," said WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove.
Vaccines are clearly preventing increases in severe illness and death from the Delta variant, WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan added.
Cases in US
The United States reported more than 1,000 Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, equating to around 42 fatalities an hour, according to a Reuters tally, as the Delta variant continues to ravage parts of the country with low vaccination rates.
Coronavirus-related deaths have spiked in the United States over the past month and are averaging 769 per day, the highest since mid-April, according to the Reuters tally.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican who is locked in battle with some local leaders over his ban on mask mandates in school, tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday but so far has no symptoms of the illness, his office said.
Cases in India
The country added 35,178 new coronavirus infections, taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 3,22,85,857, while the national recovery rate improved to 97.52%, the highest since March 2020, according to the Union health ministry.
The death toll climbed to 4,32,519 with 440 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The active cases declined to 3,67,415, the lowest in 148 days, and comprise 1.14 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, the ministry said.
Less than 50,000 daily cases have been reported for 52 consecutive days.
Vaccinated people evade virus
The Delta variant of coronavirus is unable to evade the antibodies generated by vaccination, said a study published in the journal Immunity.
The study further explains why vaccinated people have largely escaped the worst of the Delta surge.
Analysis of a panel of antibodies generated by people in response to the Pfizer Covid-19 jab found that Delta was unable to evade all but one of the antibodies they tested, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine said.
