April 20, 2024

Athens News

News in English from Greece

WHO experts: vaccines save lives

Experts from the World Health Organization say that vaccination saves from death when infected with the Delta strain.

Sumya Swaminathan, WHO Chief Scientist, said vaccines are effective in preventing death during a briefing:

“It is certain that vaccines prevent the increase in the number of severe cases and deaths from the Delta variant.

She added that she did not see the need for additional doses of vaccinations, however. And Maria van Kerkhove, the organization’s epidemiologist, drew attention to the increased circulation of Delta mutations where precautions are ignored, and among the unvaccinated population.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of WHO, previously noted that the measures taken were lagging behind the rapid spread of the Delta strain:

“In every country, the hotspots of hospitalization and death are where there is low vaccination rates and limited public health measures.”

It is worth recalling that Delta is one of the variants of the coronavirus pathogen, which is characterized by increased infectiousness and a shortened incubation period. It was first identified in India, and Indian experts paid attention: the Delta strain infects those vaccinated with a single dose and who have recovered from the coronavirus. Its contagiousness is 50% higher than the so-called British version:

“Previous infection (…) and partial vaccinations are insufficient to prevent its spread, as happened in New Delhi, and a strong global health response is needed to reduce it.”

Charalambos Gogos, Professor of Pathology and Infectious Diseases at the University of Patras (Greece), considers:

“There are special characteristics of this mutation that are clearly alarming. Firstly, the high speed of transmission (spreading) and, secondly, due to the fact that it penetrates cells more easily, it certainly causes disease. This is a more complex strain than the previous ones, it spreads around the world and quite quickly. In a short time, the number of cases has doubled in many countries. We are concerned that it will become the dominant strain in the EU and Greece. ”





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