Delta Variant may affect COVID vaccine efficacy |
Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director of India`s premiere medical institution, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, said on 16th June that the Delta Plus variant of COVID-19 could affect the efficacy of vaccines available in India. But, Dr. Guleria also made it clear that vaccines will still be effective against the variant and help prevent serious illness and deaths. He also spoke about the issue of the increased gap between the two doses of the Covishield vaccine, saying that the current data analyzed by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) showed that the delay increases the immunity against COVID-19. Dr. Guleria suggested that new data is constantly evaluated and the authorities may change the protocol, but as of now the data is quite solid on the current duration. Dr. Guleria also said "When the data was evaluated, the alpha variant was dominant and it has changed so the delta variant is more dominant now. Both variants are infectious, even the alpha variant was found more infectious than the previous variants. The data need to be looked at critically. Further decisions can be taken once the data is looked at critically and they look at it from the point of view of getting the crude data. It has to be taken after looking at the scientific evidence and can`t be a knee-jerk reaction,". The AIIMS director also added that the priority of the Indian government and health experts is to prevent deaths and serious illnesses.
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