COVID19: Are vaccinated people safe against Delta Plus variant? All you need to know about the variant of concern

A new viral variant of the coronavirus, Delta Plus, was identified on June 11. It was recently classified as a variant of concern. Till now, 51 cases of Delta Plus have been detected across 12 states, with Maharashtra reporting the maximum cases of this variant. Earlier last week, the first death associated with the Delta Plus variant was reported in Madhya Pradesh. The COVID-19 patient was not vaccinated.

Odisha's first patient, who was detected with the Delta plus variant of COVID-19, on Sunday said it took him a little over three weeks to defeat the virus. The 60-year-old man said that he strictly followed all advices given by doctors as he underwent home isolation. "I experienced body ache and flu-like symptoms on April 23 and tested positive for the delta variant of the virus on April 26. I had taken the first dose of Covishield vaccine on March 30. It took me around 20-25 days to defeat the virus."

Noting the highly infectious nature of the Delta-plus variant, former chief of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Dr Raman Gangakhedkar said a vaccine is also less effective to it. Dr Gangakhedkar, however, added, “There is no need to panic. Researches have shown that mRNA vaccine is likely to be more effective against it."

The Delta plus variant of COVID-19 has greater affinity to lung tissues as compared to other strains but it does not mean that it will cause severe disease or is more transmissible, head of coronavirus working group NTAGI Dr N K Arora said.

A study on the effectiveness of the existing COVID-19 vaccine against the Delta Plus variant is underway, said Dr Samiran Panda, Head of Epidemiology, ICMR on Saturday. The study, based on mathematical modelling analysis, showed that the new variant is unlikely to cause a new wave unless it leads to a complete loss of immune protection from the previous infection. A more transmissible variant would have to cross the reproduction number threshold of 4.5 to cause a third wave, said the study.

Vaccines Covishield and Covaxin work against SARS-CoV-2 variants Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta, while effectiveness tests against the Delta Plus variant is ongoing, the government said on Friday. There are four variants of concern of the coronavirus disease -- Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta -- with Delta Plus being a sub-lineage of the Delta variant which is also a variant of concern.