The Romanian government provides below a series of very important information regarding what all Romanians should know about the new variant of the Coronavirus, and the details are very important in the context in which it is spreading very quickly all over the world.
The B1617.2 (Delta) or Indian strain is considered the most adapted of the four viral variants of concern, with a high degree of contagion, twice as large as the original strain and about 60% larger than the Alpha strain, known as the British variant.
The Delta variant has the potential to become the majority strain globally, not just in certain countries, being responsible for a large number of infections, predominantly in unvaccinated people.
Current vaccines administered in the full schedule maintain their effectiveness against infection with this type of strain, meaning that the vaccine produced by Pfizer/BioNTech company provides hospitalization protection by 96%, and AstraZeneca/Vaxzevria provides protection of 92%.
Vaccination with the full schedule provides protection against the disease of COVID-19, decreases the risk of hospitalization, the risk of complications and death.
In Romania, up to now, have been confirmed 57 cases of infection with the Delta strain, in 9 counties in the country, most being registered in Ilfov, Argeș and the municipality of Bucharest. A first death caused by the Delta strain was declared in a 72-year-old person from the municipality of Pitesti, who was not vaccinated.
In some of the infections with the Delta strain, no import origins were identified, but they were acquired on the national territory, which indicates the possibility of community transmission.
- The Delta variant is more transmissible than the other variants;
- In both a country with higher vaccination coverage (UK) and a country with lower vaccination coverage (India), the Delta variant rapidly became predominant;
- Vaccines maintain increased effectiveness in preventing symptomatic disease and hospitalization if the full schedule is administered;
- Increasing vaccination coverage is absolutely necessary to limit transmission and reduce the effects of the Delta variant.
Information on developments in the UK:
- variant B1.617.2 quickly became dominant: in April 2021, the first infections with the Delta variant began to be identified, so that the prevalence in May reached approximately 25%, and in June it reached over 80% of the total cases of infection;
- in May 2021, vaccination coverage with one dose was approximately 50%, and with 2 doses, approximately 23%;
- on 05.07.2021/70/2, vaccination coverage with one dose was approximately 50%, and with XNUMX doses, approximately XNUMX%;
- in period April May, the average of new cases was of 2.400/ day;
- since the end of May, the number of cases and the prevalence of the Delta strain are constantly increasing, so the average number of infections reported in the last week (29.06.2021 – 05.07.2021) reached over 25.000/day – a 53% increase compared to the previous week.
Between 01.02.2021 and 14.06.2021, nearly a quarter of cases of Delta variant disease that required emergency medical attention were confirmed among people vaccinated with a single dose, with less than 1 in 10 cases being fully vaccinated people:
| total | unvaccinated | vaccinate with 1 dose | vaccinated with 2 doses | vaccination status not identified |
| 60.500 | 35.500 | 13.500 | 4000 | 7.500 |
| Present in several = 100% | ~ 60% | ~ 22% | ~ 6.5% | Up to 12.5% |
Information on developments in India:
- variant B1.617.2 quickly became dominant: the prevalence in March being at most 20%, in May, at over 75%, and in June, at almost 100%;
- in July, vaccination coverage is still very low: with one dose - 20%, and with 2 doses, approximately 5%.
The effectiveness of the vaccines is high and comparable between the Alpha and Delta variants, in the case of full regimen vaccinations:
The Delta variant has proven capable of triggering new waves of infection in countries and regions heavily affected by previous strains. An analysis of the evolution in India, based on mathematical modeling, estimates that the Delta strain could infect up to 50% of the population that has previously experienced the disease.
