The highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus is surging through Asia, with record numbers of infections in Australia and South Korea, prompting some countries to tighten curbs and others to hasten vaccination.
The highly transmissible Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, first identified in India, has become the most prevalent variant among new Covid-19 cases in the United States, according to California-based genomics company Helix.
Infectious disease experts are weighing the need for booster shots of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna mRNA-based vaccines for Americans who received Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose vaccine due to the increasing prevalence of the more contagious Delta coronavirus variant.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is highly effective against the Delta variant of Covid-19, a Pfizer official in Israel said on June 24.
In a roundup of scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines, a prostate cancer drug improved Covid-19 survival in a clinical trial and mildly ill young Covid-19 patients reported lasting symptoms in another study.
Covid-19 vaccines made by AstraZeneca and the Pfizer-BioNTech alliance remain broadly effective against Delta and Kappa variants of the Covid-19 causing virus that were first identified in India, according to a scientific study, underpinning a continued push to deliver the shots.
The United States will likely fail to meet President Joe Biden’s goal to deliver at least one Covid-19 vaccine to 70 percent of adults by July 4, officials said on June 22 and warned the Delta variant first found in India poses the greatest threat to U.S. eradication efforts.
The Delta variant of the novel coronavirus that was first found in India is the greatest threat to the United States’ effort to eradicate Covid-19 in the country’s borders, said U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci during a press call.
The Delta variant of Covid-19 – first identified in India – is becoming the globally dominant variant of the disease, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist said on June 18.
Authorities in Vietnam detected a new coronavirus variant that is a combination of the Indian and UK Covid-19 variants and spreads quickly by air, the health minister said on May 29.
