Can Antibodies post vaccine fight Delta variant?

According to a lab study conducted in US, Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus cannot evade antibodies generated by vaccination.

Key Points

• Findings were published in journal ‘Immunity’. It helped in explaining why vaccinated people have escaped the worst of Delta variant surge.
• Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine, US analysed the panel of antibodies that were generated by people vaccinated with the dose of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. They found that Delta could not evade all but one of the antibodies, on which they conducted the test.
• They also found that, other variants of concern, like Beta, avoided recognition and neutralisation by various antibodies.

UK Study

However, a new UK study reveals that, Covid-19 vaccines are less effective against the Delta variant. According to UK study, messenger RNA vaccine by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE lost their effectiveness in 90 days after full vaccination. On the other hand, vaccine made by AstraZeneca Plc still staved off majority of Covid infections. They come to this conclusion after analysing over 3 million PCR tests from random sample of people. However, Covid-19 vaccines are protecting people from developing severe Covid.

Booster shots

Result from the study of Oxford university now call for giving booster shots to the fully vaccinated. US already announced that, citizens would get a third dose of the vaccine after eight months. On the other hand, UK authorities are deciding on how broadly boosters should be given. Israel started giving third doses of Pfizer-BioNTech in August 2021. Initial results from Israel points that, third doses have been 86% effective for people aged 60 and more.

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2021