AstraZeneca, Pfizer found effective against Delta Plus variant: Study

NEW DELHI: The COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech has been found to be broadly effective against Delta and Kappa variants of SARS-CoV-2, which were first found in India, according to a study. The study was conducted by researchers from Oxford University and has been published in the journal ‘Cell’. It analysed the ability of antibodies in those who were administered both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The study said that there is no evidence of major escape which tells the current line of vaccines will provide protection against the B.1.617 lineage of SARS-CoV-2. However, the study warned that the concentration of neutralising antibodies in the blood was decreased, which can cause some serious infection. According to Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Delta Plus variant is becoming a globally dominated variant of the SARS-CoV-2. The researchers also studied the probability of reinfection in the patients who had earlier been affected by Beta and Gamma lineages, which emerged in South Africa and Brazil respectively.