Delta variant doubles risk of hospital admission – study

A study conducted by the Scottish government shows that two doses of vaccine still provide strong protection against all variants.

PRETORIA, June 15 (ANA) – The Delta coronavirus variant doubles the risk of hospitalisation compared with the previously dominant variant in the United Kingdom, Al Jazeera reported on Monday, citing a study conducted by the Scottish government.

However, two doses of vaccine still provide strong protection against all variants, the study has found.

The news channel said the study, published in a research letter on Monday, looked at 19,543 community cases and 377 hospitalisations among 5.4 million people in Scotland, of which 7,723 cases and 1,234 hospitalisations were found to have the Delta variant.

Chris Robertson, professor of public health epidemiology at the University of Strathclyde, said that, adjusting for age and comorbidities, the Delta variant roughly doubled the risk of hospital admission, but vaccines still reduced that risk.

“If you test positive, then two doses of the vaccine or one dose for 28 days roughly reduces your risk of being admitted to hospital by 70%,” he was quoted as saying.

The release of the study comes the same day as the announcement made Prime Minister Boris Johnson that England’s plan to lift all Covid-19 restrictions on June 21 has been thwarted by the Delta variant.

The move has been postponed to July 19.

Boris wrote on Twitter that it was a difficult choice but had to be done.

“There is a real possibility that the virus will outrun the vaccines and that thousands more deaths would ensue that could otherwise have been avoided,” Johnson said.

“We can give our NHS a few more crucial weeks to get those remaining jabs into the arms of those who need them. And since today I cannot say that we have met all four tests for proceeding with Step 4, I do think it is sensible to wait just a little longer.”

According to CNN, the Delta variant, first discovered in India, is growing in the UK at 7% week on week and the government fears that if restrictions were to be fully lifted, then hospitalisations could rise to the levels seen in the country’s first wave.

Public Health England (PHE) reported on Monday that the two main vaccines used in the UK are highly effective against the variant.

PHE says that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is 92% effective against the variant after two doses, while the Pfizer-BioNTech shot offers 96% protection after two doses.

The British government intends to achieve two jabs per person in the next four weeks, by reducing the gap between doses from 12 weeks to eight for people over the age of 40. Everyone over the age of 40 who had a dose in mid-May will be offered a second by July 19, CNN reported.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher