Status: 14.06.2021 10:00 p.m.
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According to a Scottish study, the Delta variant is associated with a higher risk of having to go to a clinic. However, there are different insights into the question of how this risk can be reduced by a full vaccination.
According to a study, the Corona variant Delta, which was first discovered in India, doubles the risk of having to be treated in hospital. In addition, vaccinations seem to be somewhat less effective against the mutation. This emerges from a study by Scottish researchers published in the journal “Lancet”.
Vaccines still reduce the risk of serious illness, but less so, according to this study. According to this, BioNTech / Pfizer protects 79 percent against Delta after the second vaccination dose compared to 92 percent against the alpha variant, which was initially detected in Great Britain. At AstraZeneca, protection is 60 percent after the second dose of vaccine compared to 73 percent.
English study: two doses of vaccine prevent severe disease
However, an English study comes to a different conclusion. According to a study by Public Health England (PHE), two doses of the active ingredient from BioNTech / Pfizer prevented inpatient treatment in 96 percent of cases. For AstraZeneca’s vaccine, the rate was 92 percent.
The effectiveness of the vaccine for the Delta variant is therefore comparable to that for the alpha virus strain, said PHE. “These hugely important results confirm that the Delta variant vaccines offer significant protection against hospitalization,” said Mary Ramsay, director of immunization at PHE.
The Corona variants and their names
The World Health Organization (WHO) is now using neutral names for the variants of the coronavirus. They are no longer to be named after the countries in which they were first discovered. With this, the WHO wants to prevent discrimination and stigmatization.
Alpha The name of the variant that first appeared in Great Britain is B.1.1.7.
Beta is the name for the variant B.1.351 discovered in South Africa.
Gamma stands for variant P.1, which has been proven in Brazil.
Delta refers to variant B.1.617.2, which was initially found in India.
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Symptoms of a runny nose and headache
There is also new knowledge about the symptoms of the delta variant. It appears to cause slightly different symptoms than previous variants. A British corona symptom monitoring app was the most recently reported headache, runny nose and sore throat, reports the BBC.
Tim Spector of King’s College London, who is leading the study and evaluating the reported symptoms, said: “We’ve looked at the most common symptoms reported by app users since the beginning of May – and they are no longer the same as before.”
Cold seems to be a more typical symptom of the Delta variant.
Bild: picture alliance / dpa
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Fever is still part of it, but the loss of the sense of smell and taste, which was previously considered a typical corona symptom, is less common. In terms of time, this coincides with the spread of the delta variant. For some younger people, Covid-19 could feel more like a common cold, said Spector. He called on those affected to be tested in any case.
UK easing postponed
Due to the increasing spread of the Delta variant in Great Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced today that the easing planned for Monday will be postponed by a month. The variant, which is considered very contagious, already accounts for more than 90 percent of all cases.
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