ANALYIS: COVID Delta variant takeover in U.K. offers a warning, and some hope

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Wed, 2021-06-30 10:22 — mike kraft

COVID Delta variant takeover in U.K. offers a warning, and some hope Britain, where the strain already accounts for 99% of new cases, can offer some useful insight into battling the highly-transmissible variant first detected in India. cbsthismorning

London — Health experts warn that the rapid spread of the highly infectious Delta variant is a sign that the global race between vaccination and the coronavirus could tip in favor of the latter, unless countries ramp up their immunization campaigns and practice caution. The variant first detected in India has been identified in at least 92 countries, including the U.S., and is widely considered the most transmissible COVID-19 strain observed to date.

The Delta variant has an enhanced ability to prey on the vulnerable — particularly in places with low vaccination rates. Research conducted in the U.K., where the strain already accounts for 99% of new COVID-19 cases, suggests it's about 60% more transmissible than the Alpha variant, which previously dominated.

Delta may also be linked to a greater risk of hospitalization, and is somewhat more resistant to vaccines, particularly after just a single dose of the two-shot vaccines.

The strain's rapid domination in the U.K. — which is currently registering about 20,000 new cases daily, roughly 10-times the average in early May — has drawn tougher travel warnings from other countries and spurred the government to try and get all adults vaccinated as quickly as possible.

The Delta variant has taken hold in Britain despite almost 62% of adults being fully vaccinated, a slightly higher rate than in the U.S. Most of the new cases are in younger people who've yet to have the two doses needed for maximum protection.

But in countries like Russia and Indonesia, where vaccination rates are much lower, the new strain is already being blamed for overwhelming hospitals and filling cemeteries. ...

Professor Sharon Peacock of Cambridge University leads the U.K.'s efforts to detect and map mutations of the coronavirus. She told CBS News that Delta, "will become a very dominant variant globally."

Asked if the U.S. could be heading for the same Delta takeover that hit Britain, she said there was "no reason why they wouldn't experience the same, similar thing to us." ...

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