The Delta variant, which was first discovered in India, now accounts for 90 per cent of cases in the UK.
On Friday, Public Health England (PHE) published a new report which estimated that the new variant is 60 percent more contagious than alpha (the British) and that the vaccines do not protect as well.
FHI stated to TV 2 that it is likely that delta will dominate in Norway as well.
– We expect it to eventually become dominant, and we expect that it will appear in several places in the country in the time ahead, said department director Line Vold in FHI.
The Norwegian Directorate of Health is concerned that the variant will be widespread before late summer when the majority have been vaccinated.
– One in three protected
Like FHI, the Norwegian Directorate of Health sees no reason to doubt the data from the United Kingdom.
In addition to the increased infectivity, Public Health England believes that the vaccines are 17 percent less effective after the first dose compared to alpha.
After the second dose, the difference is eight percent. This indicates that fully vaccinated people can still have good protection against this variant as well.
– We have no reason to question the basis of the figures, although hopefully there will be more knowledge about both morbidity and infectivity eventually, says assistant health director Espen Rostrup Nakstad to TV 2.
He points out that preliminary studies show that the mRNA vaccines, which we use in Norway, effectively protect against symptomatic disease in approximately 88 percent of those who have been vaccinated with two doses.
– Among people who have been vaccinated with a dose, the protection is much lower. Probably only one in three people is well protected against symptomatic disease, says Nakstad.
– ANSWER: Assistant health director Espen Rostrup Nakstad is photographed before answering readers’ questions during a web chat on TV 2 earlier this week. Photo: Sverre Saabye / TV 2
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Worried about unvaccinated
Although much is still uncertain about the delta variant, Nakstad believes that any major outbreaks give cause for concern.
– We are concerned that the variant will gain a foothold among unvaccinated Norwegians before we have reached the goal of the vaccination program in late summer. In the worst case, it can lead to more admissions among younger age groups, he says.
1,929,544 people have been vaccinated with the first dose of coronary vaccine in Norway, FHI’s statistics show on Friday. 1,325,043 have been fully vaccinated.
Although he is concerned, Nakstad believes that any outbreaks can be beaten TISK strategy.
– If we get larger outbreaks among the unvaccinated, there is cause for concern, but also the delta variant can be beaten down with targeted testing, isolation, infection detection and quarantine, says the assistant health director.
Even though the variant will take over, FHI also believes that we can retain control in Norway.
– We still expect that the epidemic can still be kept under control with effective implementation of current measures and continued rapid vaccination of as many as possible, but we are following the situation closely, said Line Vold on Friday.
According to the weekly report from FHI, a total of 84 cases of the delta variant have been detected in Norway. These probably originate from five different clusters of infection, mainly in Oslo and Viken.
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