Covid-19: Delta is unable to evade antibodies generated by vax, says US lab study

People wait in a queue for their COVID-19 vaccination in Sydney on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

The Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, that causes COVID-19, is unable to evade the antibodies generated by vaccination, according to a lab study. The findings, published in the journal Immunity, help explain why vaccinated people have largely escaped the worst of the Delta surge.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in the US analysed a panel of antibodies generated by people in response to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and found that Delta was unable to evade all but one of the antibodies they tested. Other variants of concern, such as Beta, avoided recognition and neutralisation by several of the antibodies, they said.

In previous studies, Ali Ellebedy, an associate professor at Washington University, had shown that both natural infection and vaccination elicit lasting antibody production. However, the researchers noted that the length of the antibody response is only one aspect of protection, and breadth matters too. An ideal antibody response includes a diverse set of antibodies with the flexibility to recognise many slightly different variants of the virus, they said.

According to the researchers, breadth confers resilience, adding that even if a few antibodies lose the ability to recognise a new variant, other antibodies in the arsenal should remain capable of neutralising it.

SE Asia battling highest death toll

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says Southeast Asia is battling the world's highest COVID-19 death toll, driven by the Delta variant and unequal global distribution of vaccines. Southeast Asia recorded 38,522 deaths from COVID-19 in the last two weeks, nearly twice as many as North America, it says, citing data from John Hopkins University.

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