Due to the delta variant, vaccines protect only 40% of transmissions

The WHO boss said Wednesday that it had reduced the effectiveness of vaccines against the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant disease by 40%, urging people to continue wearing masks and other barrier methods.

Also read: Live | Recent developments on coronavirus

Also read: Reduced efficacy of covaxin compared to the delta variant

“Vaccines can save lives, but they do not completely prevent the transmission of COVID-19,” Tedros Adhanam Ghebreas explained in a general press briefing dedicated to the devastating pandemic in Europe.

“Before the advent of the Delta variant, there was data indicating that vaccines reduced the circulation by 60%, which with Delta dropped to 40%,” he said.

“In many countries and communities, there is this misconception that vaccines have ended the epidemic and we fear that vaccinated people will no longer need to take other precautions,” he said.

The company’s director general opened his traditional opening remarks on the situation in Europe, which was caused by fifth wave infections, insufficient vaccination rates and slowing down – perhaps prematurely in view of the dominance of the delta variant – within barriers and limits.

“Last week, more than 60% of COVID infections and deaths worldwide occurred in Europe,” Dr. Tedros recalled.

With more than 2.5 million cases and nearly 30,000 deaths reported in the past week, according to official data gathered by the AFP, the old continent is the region most affected by the global pandemic. And the trend continues to grow.

On Tuesday, WHO Europe was alerted to the “grip” of COVID-19 in Europe, which could cause an additional 700,000 deaths on the continent by spring, with an additional 1.5 million deaths already estimated.

“If you look closely at the developments, the people of Europe are at a pre-pandemic level of social interaction, meetings and many other issues, despite the very strong resurgence., Very strong cases and enormous pressure on some countries. Condemned by Michael Ryan.

“The reality is that the virus spreads severely in this kind of environment,” he warned, as winter forces people to spend more time indoors and is more reluctant to ventilate, not to mention two years after the epidemic. A certain boredom ensued.

“All countries are at high risk of contracting this disease and we must continue to do all we can to reduce the risk of contracting the virus,” he said.

Maria Van Kherkov, who is leading the fight against COVID at the WHO as it’s Thanksgiving in the United States, recalls that despite being vaccinated, all other gesture barriers are especially important to wear. Mask, distance and ventilation of rooms where one is.

Taking the similarity of Gruyer’s pieces, it transmits the virus individually through the pores, but it creates a protective barrier, she laments, as most countries have removed all the layers at once that allow the virus to reactivate.

She warned that there was a risk of a more dangerous transformation than the Delta if traffic continued so severely.

The company’s chief scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, however, emphasized that even with Delta, vaccines are effective in “more than 80% of cases to prevent the most severe forms of the disease”.