E-Paper
All US-authorised Covid-19 vaccines effective against Delta, Fauci explains why
AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines are based on very similar platforms like Pfizer, which has been found to be 92 per cent effective against hospitalisation after two doses.
US top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci has assured that all vaccines which have been authorised by the United States are highly effective against the Delta variant of Sars-CoV-2, which is emerging as the predominant variant of the virus in the world. Dr Fauci's assertion comes as the threat of another wave of the pandemic on the back of this fast-spreading variant is looming large across the world.
"...From Public Health England, from June 14, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 96 per cent effective against hospitalization from the Delta variant after two doses, and the AZ (AstraZeneca) was 92 per cent effective against hospitalisation after two doses," Dr Fauci said.
As AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson are based on very similar platforms like that of Pfizer, it can be assumed that the results against the Delta variant will be similar, he said.
"Since these vaccines -- the AZ and the J&J (Johnson & Johnson) are based on very similar platforms, one could anticipate and make a reasonable assumption that the results against the Delta variant would be at least similar, perhaps even better. We are now looking at neutralization data, and soon we will have more firm data which we will make available to you as soon as it occurs," he said.
Johnson and Johnson has claimed that its single-shot Covid-19 vaccine is effective against the Delta variant, with an immune response lasting at least eight months. The company conducted two studies to find out the efficacy of the vaccine against the Delta variant - one on eight people vaccinated with the J&J jab and the second with 20 vaccinated patients at a Boston hospital.
The World Health Organization has said Delta will become the predominant variant in the coming months as at present 96 countries have reported this variant.
Dr Fauci too has expressed concern over the Delta variant as it is "more efficient" than the other variants. "The Delta variant has the capability of spreading much more efficiently from person to person. It also can cause more severe diseases. So there are two things about it that are troublesome," he said.
(With agency inputs)
