Despite Rising ‘Breakthrough’ COVID-19 Cases, Experts Urges Public To Get Vaccinated For Protection Against Delta Variant
For many countries who have successfully innoculated a good percentage of their population against COVID-19, people have started to hope that the hell brought upon by the coronavirus pandemic will end very soon. Unfortunately, some things simply cannot be controlled, including the mutation of the original COVID-19 virus first detected in Wuhan, China. So far, the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma variants of the SARS-CoV 2 were reported in different locations around the globe, threatening the efforts currently being made to put an end to the pandemic.
However, among all the variants of concern, the Delta variant has proven to be the most dangerous, with a potential to undo all the progress that were made in achieving herd immunity.
In spite of the concerns about the effectivity of the COVID-19 vaccines that were already approved for usage against this new menacing variant, experts agree that getting the COVID-19 vaccine would still be the best way to survive, no matter how a new emerging variant can work its way around a person’s vaccine-driven antibodies.
It is said that the virus mutation changes the protein spike configuration of the virus, thus making it more challenging for the antibodies to penetrate into the virus and destroy it. This change could also make the virus more contagious than ever as its altered protein receptors lead to higher transmissibility from one person to another. The good news for now is that our pet animals contracting and possibly spreading the new COVID-19 virus is still very unlikely, so pet lovers could still check without any worries if they want to adopt a new dog.
So now, we get that the Delta variant is actually twenty times more infectious than the original Wuhan SARS-CoV 2, and is also much more transmissible than the seasonal flu. Also, the further mutation also lowered the efficacy rate of the vaccines, although experts have not come with a single data to show how much the vaccine efficacy has dropped.
All this being considered, the Delta variant is blamed for the rising number of the so-called break-through cases, or those people who have already completed the two-dose COVID-19 vaccine but still got infected somehow.
Nonetheless, people are still strongly advised to get innoculated at the soonest time possible, as the figures prove that while the vaccine may not prevent symptomatic infections one hundred percent, the antibodies produced by the human body due to vaccination prevent severe symptoms that may lead to hospitalization, or even death.
For now, vaccine manufacturers, particularly Pfizer and BioNTech, are doing another round of research to address the Delta variant’s elusiveness. We may have to wait a little longer for our planned long road trips after the pandemic to finally come true, as experts study new ways to beat the new coronavirus variant once and for all. We should still practice precaution when going outdoors or meeting with other people, like wearing a face mask in public spaces.