Expert says herd immunity ‘not a possibility’ as Delta ravages the world
Herd immunity is “not a possibility” with the Delta strain according to a leading vaccine expert, as the Covid-19 variant continues to ravage the world.
As the Delta strain takes hold of the world, the head of the Oxford Vaccine Group has said herd immunity is now “not a possibility” given how transmissible the Covid-19 variant is.
Professor Andrew Pollard, who is also chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in the UK, the body which advises the British government on vaccinations, made the comments while speaking to the UK parliament earlier this week.
In a recent study which randomly tests up to 150,000 people in England for Covid-19, scientists found that the Delta strain was dominant and had reduced the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines to 49 per cent. (That is the overall effectiveness for all vaccines used in the UK.)
Reacting to the findings, Professor Pollard said: “The problem with this virus is [it is] not measles. If 95 per cent of people were vaccinated against measles, the virus cannot transmit in the population.
“The Delta variant will still infect people who have been vaccinated. And that does mean that anyone who’s still unvaccinated at some point will meet the virus … and we don’t have anything that will [completely] stop that transmission,” reported Medical News Today.
It means, according to the expert, while vaccinations were still vital to our route out of the pandemic, they would not stop people from becoming infected with the virus – but vaccinations would stop serious disease and rates of hospitalisation and death.
Delta is the variant responsible for the current outbreaks in Australia – causing lockdowns in NSW and Victoria – and is also flaring up in countries across the world as it quickly takes over as the major strain of Covid-19.
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Health crisis as Philippines runs out of nurses
There is a severe lack of health care workers in the Philippines due to poor wages and conditions.
As many tried to leave the country, the government first banned health care workers from moving overseas, before changing it to a cap on the number who can. But it hasn’t stopped workers leaving the industry.
While it was thought the pandemic might see the government improve pay and conditions for those in the industry, that has not happened. Instead, the health crisis has increased the workload, with nurses on a Covid-19 ward responsible for 15 or more patients.
“You can imagine they are in full gear, PPE, from head to toe, catering to more than 15 patients in 12 hours,” Maristela Abenojar, president of Filipino Nurses United, told The Observer. Some cannot find time to eat, or avoid going to the toilet because they don’t want to remove their protective clothing because they fear supplies are low.
Case numbers in the country are spiking yet again, with the nation recording 16,797 infections on August 20, up from a low of 4507 just a month before.
The government has been criticised for its poor vaccine statistics, with only 11.5 per cent of the population fully vaccinated.
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Thailand protests over pandemic mismanagement
As hospitals in Thailand struggle to cope under the strain of infection numbers, thousands of protesters descended on Bangkok’s central shopping district to demand the resignation of Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha over his mishandling of the pandemic.
The country recorded almost 20,000 Covid-19 cases on Friday. In total over the pandemic, it has recorded over 7500 deaths.
A slow vaccine rollout plus economic stress from restrictions have sparked the protests.
However after concerns about public gatherings spreading the virus, protesters have in recent weeks turned to organising massive car convoys at major intersections – thus clogging up Bangkok’s already traffic-choked streets.
“The time is up for Prayut. The government has shown clearly they will not take responsibility for any loss,” shouted Nattawut Saikuar, a politician long associated with former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Police stationed on an elevated tollway deployed water cannons against protesters who set off firecrackers and threw projectiles.
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Delta accounts for 93 per cent of US cases
In the US, the Delta variant now accounts for 93 per cent of all cases, as numbers climb again.
There were almost 200,000 new cases recorded across the country on Friday, August 20, coming after a low of just over 4000 two months earlier.
A new development there is the number of children becoming infected, with experts concerned as schools prepare to welcome students back to class.
Paediatric hospitalisation rates for Covid-19 still remain lower than for adults, but they have been increasing, recording 0.41 per 100,000 children aged up to 17, compared with the previous high set in mid-January of 0.31 per 100,000 children according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
National Institutes of Health head Dr Francis Collins called the numbers “worrisome” and said over 400 children had died of Covid-19 in the US since the pandemic began.
“And right now we have almost 2000 kids in the hospital, many of them in ICU, some of them under the age of 4,” Dr Collins told Fox News.
Outbreaks have also occurred at schools that have already reopened where there is resistance to wearing masks.
It has led to some school administrators mandating masks in defiance of the official rules.
“This Delta variant is different, and the numbers are really significant in the county,” Michael Hinojosa of the Dallas school system told AP. “We’re going to continue our mask mandate to keep students safe, to keep parents safe, to keep families safe and most importantly our teachers, who are on those front lines.’’
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Delta puts end to New Zealand success
New Zealand, which had been lauded around the world for its response to the pandemic, now has a growing Delta cluster.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has extended a snap nationwide lockdown as infection numbers continue to rise, with the nation recording 21 cases today, bringing the total number to 72. She confirmed the cases could be traced back to the current outbreak affecting NSW.
“I can now report, from the whole genome sequence analysis, that our current positive cases are a close match to a recent returnee from Sydney, who arrived on a managed red zone flight on August 7, had a day one test on the 8th, returning a positive test result on the 9th,” a visibly unimpressed Ms Ardern told reporters.
“Our cases are most likely to have come from the traveller. This is a significant development.”
Introducing the harsh restrictions in light of the outbreak, the leader pointed the finger at Australia.
“We’ve seen the dire consequences of taking too long to act in other countries, not least our neighbours,” she said.
“We have seen what can happen elsewhere if we fail to get on top of it. We only get one chance.”
China infection numbers falling
A cluster of Delta cases in China’s eastern city of Nanjing recorded on July 20 is now showing signs of slowing down.
At its peak, the city was recording around 140 new daily cases. A month later, case numbers have fallen to around five or six a day.
Strict restrictions were introduced when the cluster was detected and they are now being eased as numbers recede.
However, it didn’t stop the Nanjing infections spreading to other parts of China, with nine airport cleaners testing positive at the start of the outbreak.
– with wires
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