Now Dominant, the Delta Variant Evades Immune Response

The Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, which is now the dominant strain in the United States and in many nations across the world, seems to show quite an ability to evade the immune system. It is also highly contagious, with experts estimating the Delta variant being 60% more transmissible than the Alpha variant and twice as contagious as the original novel coronavirus that kicked off the pandemic at the start of 2020. New research out of France discovered that the Delta variant has an uncanny ability to evade the immune response generated by natural infection and one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines. The French study, published in Nature, evaluated the ability of vaccines and natural infection to neutralize the Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants as well as the original version of SARS-CoV-2. The researchers found that a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine was highly ineffective, with only 10% of those with one immunization being able to fight off the Delta or Beta variants. However, 95% of those with a second COVID-19 vaccine were able to eradicate both Delta and Beta variants. Click here to read more.