WHO’s Science in 5 on COVID-19 : Delta variant and vaccines

Hello and welcome to Science in 5.

I'm Vismita Gupta-Smith.

We are talking today
about the Delta variant and vaccines.

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

Welcome, Soumya.

Our first question to you, Soumya,
is we know that the Delta variant

is more transmissible.

Please explain to us
what kind of protection

we get from the current batch
of approved vaccines.

So we're talking here
about the Delta variant,

which is the fourth variant of concern

described by WHO

because it's both more transmissible
than the previous variant

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

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

to overcome this variant

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

Now, the good news

is that all of the WHO
emergency use listed vaccines

do protect against
developing severe disease,

hospitalization and death
due to the Delta variant.

So there are studies now

from countries where there is
a predominance of Delta variant

to show that people who've been vaccinated

are much less likely
to end up in hospital.

And you need the full
course of vaccination

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

So the important thing is

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

please do take it and take the full course

so that you can be protected

both against the Delta
and other variants of COVID.

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

if you have received
one dose of the vaccine

versus if you're fully vaccinated.

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

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

from it and not become seriously ill.

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

Of course, there are different levels.

You read about the efficacy trials.

They may range from 70 to 90%.

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

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

Again, they vary in
the protection against getting infection.

Ideally, you know, you'd like a vaccine
which completely prevents you from getting

infected therefore, you can't get ill.

But none of the vaccines that
we have currently are 100% protective.

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

are you'll get a very mild symptoms or no
symptoms at all and that the chances

of getting seriously ill
are really, really low.

So Soumya, if we can still get infected and
also infect others even after we are

fully vaccinated, then why get vaccinated?

There're two very good reasons
to get vaccinated.

The first is to protect yourself from
getting severely ill if you

catch the infection.

We know that there's a certain proportion of
people of all age groups who do get severely

ill and you could have a
chance of dying from this disease.

And this is what we want to protect.

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

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

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

a 100% from the infection.

So there is a small risk you get infected
and you could pass it on to others.

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

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

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

get a control on this disease.

So that's why we say get vaccinated as soon
as you can get access to your vaccine when

your turn comes and continue to take all the
precautions so that you are completely

protecting yourself as well
as protecting others around you.

Thank you Soumya.

That was Science in 5 today.

Until next time then, stay safe,
stay healthy and stick with science.