Delta variant may become dominant COVID strain, warns US CDC; stresses on vaccination

The Delta strain of SARS-CoV-2 is likely to become the dominant strain of coronavirus in the United States, Director of Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rochelle Walensky said on June 19. Speaking at an interview with ABC network, the top health expert said that the B.1.617.2 variant was “hyper transmissible”. However softening the blow, she asserted that the vaccines were “working well” and asked Americans to get their two shots to be immunized against the “worrisome” mutation.

“So I would encourage all Americans, get your first shot, and when you’re due for your second, get your second shot and you’ll be protected against this Delta variant,” she added in the interview.

'Variant of concern' 

The Delta variant, which was first identified in India, has jumped international borders to spread across more than 80 countries, a World Health Organisation report disclosed. Earlier, the CDC raised the strain from “variant of interest” to “variant of concern” implying that it may carry the risk of severe illness. As per the Federal health agency, the Delta variant of coronavirus accounted for 10 per cent of total infections on the American territory.

On Friday, World Health Organization’s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said at a news conference that because of its significantly increased transmissibility the delta variant is now on the way to becoming the dominant variant worldwide. She added, that scientists still need more data on the variant, including its impact on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. Previously, she had stated that herd immunity was unlikely to be achieved in 2021. 

The WHO chief scientists also expressed concern about the German company CureVac’s failed trials after the jab proved to be only 47 per cent effective in a clinical trial with 40,000 participants. The company cited the spread of the variants as the reason for reduced protection from the vaccine. With mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna giving 90 per cent above efficacy rate, Swaminathan stated that WHO expected robust protection from the CureVac’s candidate.

Image: AP