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Vismita Gupta-Smith:
Hello, and welcome to Science in 5.

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I'm Vismita Gupta-Smith.

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We are talking today
about the Delta variant and vaccines.

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Dr. Soumya Swaminathan,
WHO's Chief Scientist is our expert today.

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Welcome, Soumya.

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Our first question to you, Soumya,

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is we know that the Delta variant
is more transmissible.

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Please explain to us
what kind of protection

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we get from the current batch
of approved vaccines.

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Soumya Swaminathan: So we're
talking here about the Delta variant,

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which is the fourth variant of concern

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described by WHO

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because it's both more transmissible
than the previous variant

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and also has been able to resist
the antibodies that we have in our blood.

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So what that means is that you need
a higher level of antibodies

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to overcome this variant

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as compared to, let's say, 
the Alpha variant.

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Now, the good news is that all of the WHO
emergency use listed vaccines

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do protect against
developing severe disease,

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hospitalization and death
due to the Delta variant.

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So there are studies now

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from countries where there is
a predominance of Delta variant

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to show that people who've been vaccinated

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are much less likely
to end up in hospital.

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And you need the full
course of vaccination

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in order to give you that full immunity
to protect you against the Delta variant.

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So the important thing is

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if you have access to a vaccine
that's approved by WHO,

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please do take it and take the full course

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so that you can be protected

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both against the Delta
and other variants of COVID.

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VGS: Soumya, explain to us, please,
the level of protection that you have

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if you have received
one dose of the vaccine

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versus if you're fully vaccinated.

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SS: So the main goal of these vaccines
is really to prevent severe disease

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because what we want is for people,
even if they get the infection,

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is for them to recover from it
and not become seriously ill.

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So that's something that all
of these vaccines do really well.

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Of course, there are different levels.

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You read about the efficacy trials.

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They may range from 70% to 90%.

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But in terms of just looking at
the prevention of severe disease

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and hospitalization,

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they're all very good, over 90% effective.

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Again, they vary in the protection
against getting an infection.

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Ideally, you know, you'd like a vaccine

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which completely prevents you
from getting infected,

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therefore you can't get ill.

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But none of the vaccines
that we have currently

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are 100% protective.

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So this is why even if you're vaccinated, 
you can get the infection,

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but the chances are
you'll get very mild symptoms

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or no symptoms at all,

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and that the chances
of getting seriously ill

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are really, really low.

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VGS: So Soumya,
if we can still get infected

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and also infect others
even after we are fully vaccinated,

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then why get vaccinated?

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SS: There are two very good reasons 
to get vaccinated.

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The first is to protect yourself
from getting severely ill

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if you catch the infection.

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We know that there's a certain proportion
of people of all age groups

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who do get severely ill

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and, you know, you could have a chance
of dying from this disease,

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and this is what we want to protect.

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So that's why you want
to get vaccinated in the first place.

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But secondly, if you get vaccinated 
and yes, you may still get the infection

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because we know that these vaccines
are not going to protect you a 100%

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from the infection.

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So there is a small risk you get infected,

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and you could pass it on to others.

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Why do you want to take
the risk of doing that?

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Why do you want to be one person
in the chain of transmission?

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What we need to do in the world today
is to break those chains of transmission,

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get control of this disease.

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So that's why we say

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get vaccinated as soon as you can get
access to your vaccine

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when your turn comes,

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and continue to take all the precautions

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so that you are completely
protecting yourself

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as well as protecting others around you.

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VGS: Thank you, Soumya.

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That was Science in 5 today.

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Until next time then.

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Stay safe. Stay healthy,
and stick with science.

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Subtitles by Maurício Kakuei Tanaka
Review by Carol Wang