07/08/2021

New Study on Delta Variant Reveals Importance of Receiving Both Vaccine Shots

It also highlights challenges posed by mutations

New laboratory research on the swiftly spreading COVID-19 delta variant of the coronavirus is highlighting the threats posed by viral mutations, adding urgency to calls to accelerate vaccination efforts across the planet.

A peer-reviewed report from scientists in France, published Thursday in the journal Nature, found that the delta variant has mutations that allow it to evade some of the neutralizing antibodies produced by vaccines or by a natural infection. A single shot of a two-dose vaccine “barely” offers any protection.

But the experiments found that fully vaccinated people — with the recommended regimen of two shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca vaccine — should retain significant protection against the delta variant. That echoes another report written by a collaboration of scientists in the United States and published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.