The Mrna Jabs Seem Bestbut All Offer Protection
THE RESULTS OF the first trial that showed that a vaccine could prevent symptomatic cases of covid-19, in November 2020, were greeted by the media with delight. As Nature put it: It works!. But the emergence of variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid, complicated the picture, since vaccines may work well against one variant, but not against another. Understanding the shots effectiveness against Delta, the variant that is now globally dominant, is a pressing concern.
How Do Mutations Arise
Viruses smuggle their genetic information into a host cell in order to multiply. With every reproduction, there are small copying errors, and each of these errors also changes the genetic code of the virus. So it is constantly mutating, and that is quite normal.
Sometimes these mutations make the virus more effective, for example, by allowing it to elude immune reactions such as those brought about by vaccinations or prior illness. Sometimes they make the virus less effective, that is, weaken it. And often they have no effect at all.
In the evolution of virus mutations, the following applies: The strongest variant prevails. In the case of the coronavirus, this means that variants that are more infectious, for example, suppress the less dangerous forms of the virus.
Just The Facts On Stopping The Spread Of The Delta Variant
The information that Jennifer Davenport, chief medical officer at St. James Healthcare, was sharing with the community was bad news, she explained in her blog post. COVID-19 cases in the community of Butte, Mont., were increasing. Subsequently, COVID hospitalizations are increasing, and the health care community anticipates this trend to continue. The delta variant is now becoming the dominant strain in Montana, she wrote.
Davenport summarized the facts, including:
- The delta variant is more contagious.
- The variant is affecting more younger people, including children, and making them very sick.
- The delta variant can cause reinfection in people who previously had a prior strain of COVID-19.
The positive side of all this? Unlike the situation we were in a year ago, there are now more avenues for our community members to help stop this increase in cases and that begins with getting vaccinated, Davenport said.
She outlined exactly what people can do to help slow the spread of COVID-19:
- Get vaccinated.
- Wear a mask in public.
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Most People Need Booster Shots
While COVID-19 vaccines are effective, studies have shown some declines in vaccine effectiveness against infections over time, especially when the Delta variant was circulating widely. Everyone ages 18 and older should get a booster shot either 6 months after their initial Pfizer or Moderna series, or 2 months after their initial Johnson & Johnsons Janssen vaccine. People ages 1617 may get a booster dose of Pfizer at least 6 months after their initial series of vaccines.
As Variants Emerge Whats Our Best Path To Ending The Pandemic
Vaccinations. When I evangelize for the vaccine, I always talk about diseases like measles and polio. You dont hear about those diseases anymore because of highly effective vaccines. Poliomyelitis has practically been eliminated from the United States and other parts of world because of vaccinations, barring exceedingly rare, imported cases from travel. Polio has been eliminated in most of the world, with the exception of a few countries in the Middle East that have rare and sporadic outbreaks.
Similarly, some people may not know about rubella, and thats because the MMR vaccine measles, mumps and rubella has reduced cases so dramatically. Its one of the standard pediatric vaccines as well as for women of childbearing age. The R in MMR stands for rubella. You dont hear about congenital rubella infection anymore, as was once more common before the vaccine, because the MMR is highly effective.
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How Is The Delta Variant Infection Treated
Currently, there are no specific treatments for COVID-19, including an infection caused by the Delta variant. Scientists are working on developing treatment methods, and many clinical trials are underway. Doctors, therefore, advise taking precautions such as getting vaccinated, wearing a mask, and maintaining social distance and good hygiene.
- People with mild COVID-19 can ease their symptoms with sufficient rest and medications as prescribed by their doctor.
- Antibiotics do not help because they help treat a bacterial infection, not a viral infection.
- Doctors do not advise self-medicating or using herbs to attempt to prevent or cure COVID-19.
- Supportive care includes oxygen for people who are severely ill and respiratory support such as ventilation for people who are critically ill.
- Research has shown that the use of hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, lopinavir, ritonavir, and interferon have little or no effect in treating COVID-19.
- Various steroid medications including dexamethasone are being used to treat COVID-19, which has been found to reduce the risk of death. However, studies on their effectiveness are still being conducted. The indiscriminate use of dexamethasone may also result in superinfection with other bacteria or fungi.
There Are Other Variants Of Concern
Right now there are at least four VOCs, variants of concern, that the CDC’s watching closely, Dr. Fryhofer said, adding that variants of concern may be more transmissible, cause more severe disease and may be more resistant to vaccines and antibody therapies.
Each variant now has two namesan alphanumeric name, it’s so-called Pango lineage, or Pangolin for shortand now, a new label from WHO which assigns each variant with a letter of the Greek alphabet, she added. This was done to make it easier for the public, but which name to use will likely depend on who the audience is. Scientists will likely use the alphanumeric system. Physicians will need to know both.
The main variant circulating here in the U.S. is still the B.1.1.7the Alphaalso called the U.K. variant. Our vaccines work against this one, Dr. Fryhofer explained. Next, there’s the B.1.351, the South Africa variant, also called Beta.
Both AlphaB.1.1.7and BetaB.1.351, the South Africa variantare 50% more transmissible than the original strain, she added. The South Africa variant’s one of the most resistant to vaccine neutralization. So is the P.1 variant, aka the Gamma variant first detected in Japan and Brazil.
The B.1.42s are COVID variants first identified in California in February 2021 and put on the VOC list in March, Dr. Fryhofer noted. They’re both referred to as Epsilon. Although they were downgraded by CDC to VOI on June 25, they are still the radar.
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Delta May Significantly Increase Breakthrough Risk
The study finds both brands of the vaccine protected patients against all three variants of COVID-19 however, virus neutralization dropped when antibodies encountered the Beta and Delta variants. Moreover, the Delta variant reduced the immune response of the Pfizer shot by over four times. Delta also reduced the protection of the Astra Zeneca vaccine by more than five times.
Study authors note that their tests did not measure the effectiveness of either the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Previous studies have found that the Moderna vaccine has produced the highest levels of protection against COVID-19 and its variants. Meanwhile, protection from the Johnson & Johnson shot has declined the most as new mutations emerge.
While vaccines remain highly effective at preventing severe infection and death, ongoing monitoring of neutralization against new variants alongside studies of vaccine effectiveness are indicated as the virus continues to evolve over time, especially in vulnerable groups. Booster vaccines reduce the chance of being infected with currently circulating new variants. Newer updated vaccine designs are also likely to be required in time to prevent productive infection with newer variants of the virus, the study authors say in a media release.
The study is published in the journal PLOS Pathogens.
Breakthrough Infections Can Be Expected
Although were seeing more breakthrough cases in vaccinated people, and studies indicate that vaccine effectiveness against infection is over time, protection against severe disease or death remains strong.
Experts stress that vaccines are highly protective, even if theyre not 100-percent effective.
A preprint study that analyzed 161 vaccine breakthrough infections among 24,706 vaccinated healthcare workers found that although vaccinated people who contract the coronavirus have similar levels of the virus in their noses and throats as unvaccinated people, not all of it is as infectious.
The breakthrough cases presented with mild or asymptomatic infections, of which more than 90 percent were attributed to the Delta variant.
Additionally other experiments also showed that the viral shedding from vaccinated people was lower. Researchers hypothesized this was because some of the virus had already been neutralized by antibodies produced from the vaccine.
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How Effective Are The Vaccines Against Delta Exactly
While some vaccines are slightly less effective against the Delta variant compared to the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, all of the vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. are still very effective against the variant. If you do get Delta while vaccinated, you are much less likely to get severe disease, be hospitalized or die.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is 88% effective against Delta after two shots versus 93.7% against original Covid-19 after two shots, according to a lab study. What this means is that if everyone in the U.S. gets vaccinated, the country will experience 88% fewer Delta cases compared to the likely outcome if no one got vaccinated. This does not mean that 88 out of 100 people would be protected from Delta. But after only one shot, the vaccine is not very effective at protecting against the Delta variant. Some other studies have found conflicting results, like a study done in Israel that found the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was only 64% effective against Delta.
A lab study also found that the Moderna vaccine was 72% effective against the Delta variant after one dose, but more studies are needed to understand how protective it is. More studies are also needed for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. One study that has not yet been peer-reviewed suggests the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is less effective against the Delta variant, but that isnt enough information to make a definitive conclusion.
Can Vaccination Promote Mutations At All
Theoretically, however, there is the possibility that vaccinations exert an immunological pressure on the virus, says Georg Behrens. “Then it tries to escape this pressure through such a mutation,” he said.
That is because the virus is currently encountering populations that are only partially vaccinated. As a result, some people have an immune response, while others still offer the possibility of becoming infected. “That’s what the virus loves,” said Behrens. “And this can lead to other mutations. This is how the virus trains itself, basically.”
In summary: In very rare cases, vaccinations can cause mutations to arise and theoretically promote their spread, but it is much more likely that dangerous mutations are created where a virus can spread quickly and unhindered.
This article was translated from German.
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Vaccines Are Not Enough
Dr. Moore told us: One caveat when extrapolating to the is that only 14 of the 38 Delta breakthrough infections in vaccinated people involved the Pfizer vaccine. The rest had received or the , which are both less effective than the mRNA vaccines that predominate in this country. Hence, here, I would expect the vaccination benefit to be greater than the numbers reported in this U.K. study.
The researchers conclude that vaccines alone are insufficient to prevent the spread of the Delta variant in households. They say that both vaccination and non-pharmacological interventions like mask-wearing will remain crucial for containing the pandemic.
One limitation to the study is how the researchers defined who may have contracted SARS-CoV-2 first in a household. It is possible that another member of the household may have had the infection before the person whom the tracking system identified.
Another limitation is that as older people received vaccinations before younger people in the U.K., any age-related findings may be skewed.
This study confirms that whether vaccinated or not, once a person is infected with , they can to others. Vaccinated people who develop COVID are likely less , though, Dr. Jorge Luis Salinas, an assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University, not involved in the study, told Medical News Today.
For live updates on the latest developments regarding the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, click here.
Fau Expert Answers Questions About The Delta Variant And Vaccines
Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that currently more than 80 percent of cases of COVID-19 are the Delta variant.
Florida Atlantic Universitys Joanna Drowos, D.O., M.P.H., M.B.A., associate chair of the Department of Integrated Medical Science, an associate professor of integrated medical science, and a practicing physician at the , within the Schmidt College of Medicine, provides answers to some of the most frequently asked questions regarding the COVID-19 Delta variant, vaccines and public safety measures.
Drowos is board certified in preventive medicine, family medicine and medical quality. Prior to joining FAU, she served as the center medical director of the Riviera Beach Health Center of the Palm Beach County Health Department. At the health department, Drowos participated in the care of the countys medically underserved populations addressing various infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. She also served as the director of medical education for the Palm Beach County Health Departments Preventive Medicine Residency Program from 2009 to 2013.
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What Should I Know About Antibodies Vaccines And The Delta Variant
The CDC officially recommends vaccination for all eligible individuals, including those who have already had COVID-19 in the past. Compared to natural immunity, Dr. Adalja says immunity from vaccination is stronger, more robust, and more predictable making it the best route for protecting against severe illness from the Delta strain.
While an infection creates antibodies against all the proteins in a particular viral strain, vaccination is more focused on neutralizing the most important protein. “The spike protein, which binds to receptors to get inside a person’s cells, is the most important protein for a wide variety of strains,” says Lakdawala. Antibodies against the virus’ spike proteins neutralize the entire virus, she explains, which prevents it from entering the cells and making you sick.
Are Vaccines Effective Against The Delta Variant
All vaccines offer some level of protection against the Delta variant. Vaccination and mask use are therefore crucial in protecting yourself against infection.
- Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine:
- Found to be 36% and 88% effective against symptomatic disease caused by the Delta variant after first and second doses, respectively.
- Found to be 94% and 96% effective in preventing hospitalization after first and second doses, respectively.
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Fact Check: Did Covid Vaccines Cause The Delta Variant
The delta variant is spreading rapidly even in countries with a high vaccination rate. That gives grounds for wild speculation: Did the vaccines make the delta variant possible in the first place? A DW fact check.
Coronavirus vaccination campaign in the Netherlands
In the UK, the number of coronavirus cases has recently been increasing rapidly. Some 95% of the sequenced cases can be traced back to the delta variant. But two-thirds of the population there have already been vaccinated. For some, that doesn’t make sense: How can the mutation spread so quickly despite high vaccination rates?
Opponents of vaccination use this scenario for their own purposes: The German micro-party “Die Basis” is one of many sources spreading speculations on social media that the delta mutation may have been caused by the coronavirus vaccines, albeit without providing any evidence for this theory.
This fact check explains how mutations come about and why vaccines cannot be held responsible for them.
Vaccination And The Delta Variant: Four Steps Forward Two Steps Back
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of either Johns Hopkins University and Medicine or the University of Washington.
- The Delta variant is more transmissible than prior variants and case numbers are quickly increasing.
- Among hospitalized adults, nearly all are unvaccinated, which speaks to the power of the Covid-19 vaccines.
- Delta has underscored the importance of vaccinating as much of the population as possible.
The recent media headlines are all Delta, Delta, Delta, and itâs not the airline. The last several weeks have brought sobering findings that have produced a large alteration in both the American and scientific psyche about COVID-19 vaccines, the trajectory of the epidemic, and the understanding that life can sometimes just be complicated. We first saw the Alpha variant, which was two times more infectious than the ancestral strain, followed by Beta, which was eight times more resistant in laboratory assays to neutralization, and which also reduced vaccine efficacy. And now Delta is here and just ripping through both of them, like a hot knife through butter, replacing Beta with the same rapidity that it replaced Alpha and all the in-between variants.
Letâs look at vaccination and Delta as it relates to the U.S.:
What do I mean by that?
Larry Corey, Professor of Medicine
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