Covid-19 vaccines less effective against Delta variant: WHO

The WHO expert added that the "constellation of mutations" in coronavirus variants could lead to vaccines becoming ineffective.

Current Covid-19 vaccines are less effective against the Delta coronavirus variant, which was first detected in India, but they still prevent severe disease and death, Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization's technical lead for Covid-19, said on Monday.

"There is a recent study that came out in The Lancet ... that looked at the reduced titer neutralization from the alpha, beta, gamma, and delta variants showing a reduction in neutralization on the delta variant.

Not as much as the beta variant, which is the variant that was first detected in South Africa ... Having said that, these vaccines are still highly effective. They produce enough antibodies to protect against severe disease and death," Van Kerkhove said at a press briefing.

The WHO expert added that the "constellation of mutations" in coronavirus variants could lead to vaccines becoming ineffective. "There may be a time when we have a constellation of mutations that arise in a variant where our vaccinesactually lose their potency, and that's what we want to make sure we prevent," Van Kerkhove said.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!