In Britain they were already warming up to even more easing and freedom. But the delta variant, previously known as the Indian variant, threw a spanner in the works. It now causes more than 90 percent of the corona cases there.
Johnson: don’t take risks
This will lead to a revival in the number of infections and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson does not want to take any risks with that. Johnson wil have more people vaccinated first, before easing further. So for the time being no dancing in the nightclubs for the British.
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Another country in Europe where the delta variant is predominant is Russia. The consequences are much worse there. The country recorded for the second day in a row a record number of corona deaths.
Forced poking
The outlook for Russia is not very hopeful. The willingness to vaccinate is very low, only 11 percent is now fully vaccinated. This is worrying, because the delta variant can cause problems in particular if a significant part of the population has not yet been (fully) vaccinated. That’s why some Russians are now even forced to put a jab.
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Second shot needed against delta variant
With the alpha variant, formerly the British variant, you are almost 50 percent protected after one shot from AstraZeneca or Pfizer, but with the delta variant that percentage is between 30 and 36 percent.
With the second shot, the difference is much smaller. Two doses of Pfizer protect you 88 percent against the delta variant and 94 percent against the alpha variant. At AstraZeneca, the difference is between 67 and 74 percent.
However, after one shot from Pfizer, you are already 94 percent protected against hospitalization by the delta variant, with AstraZeneca this is 71 percent after one shot. This is just as effective as the alpha variant.
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We see that vaccination helps against the delta variant, for example in Israel, the country what we envied when they dropped many restrictions earlier this year. About 60 percent in Israel are fully vaccinated.
The number of infections has recently increased again due to the delta variant, but the number of hospital admissions has barely increased. As a precaution, mouth caps have become mandatory again in indoor areas.
Advance in Portugal
Russia and Great Britain are the frontrunners in Europe when it comes to the share of the delta variant. But the mutation is also on the rise in Portugal.
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In that country the share of the delta variant is more than 50 percent, around Lisbon it is even more than 70 percent. The infections are increasing, which is why the Greater Lisbon region applies an orange travel advice. And for the Portuguese, the advance of the delta variant means: early closure of the catering industry and more travel restrictions.
Delta variant becomes dominant
In our immediate neighboring countries it will remain calm for the time being, but the delta variant is slowly taking over. In Germany the share of the delta variant has more than doubled in a week. The Germans expect the mutation to become dominant this summer.
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Also in Belgium they expect a revival of the delta variant this summer. The share is now about 23 percent. In France this percentage is about 20 percent, but the willingness to vaccinate there is very low: 30 percent of the French do not want to be vaccinated, mainly because of mistrust of the government. That’s why the country is considering vaccination to make it mandatory for healthcare workers.
Vaccination readiness
The Netherlands has one major advantage: the willingness to vaccinate is very high in our country. Almost 90 percent of the Dutch say they want to get a corona jab.
But it is expected that the delta variant will also be dominant in our country in the autumn. To prevent a new revival of the virus, the cabinet has decided that 12 to 17-year-olds can also be vaccinated. “This is an important factor in controlling a revival of the delta variant in the autumn and therefore an unavoidable choice”, says Minister Hugo de Jonge.
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:quality(80)/cdn-kiosk-api.telegraaf.nl/61f32ea0-d9bf-11eb-a33e-0217670beecd.JPG "Almost 2000(!) Scottish infections at European Championships: mainly due to trip to London | European Football Championship")