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July 14, 2021: -People who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are still getting infected with the delta variant. Still, global health officials said the shots had protected most people from getting severely sick or dying. “Reports are coming in that vaccinated populations have cases of infection, particularly with the delta variant,” Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the chief scientist of WHO, said at a press briefing on Monday. “The majority of these are mild or asymptomatic infections.”
However, hospitalizations are increasing in some parts of the world, primarily where vaccination rates are less, and the contagious delta variant is spreading, she said.
In the U.S., officials have said all recent Covid hospitalizations and deaths were occurring among unvaccinated people. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, breakthrough infections are rare. About 75% of the people who die or are hospitalized with Covid after vaccination are over 65.
“The delta variant is ripping all over the world at a scorching pace, driving a new spike in cases and death. Not everywhere takes the same hit, though,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“We are amid a growing two-track pandemic where the haves and have-nots within and between countries are divergent in places with high vaccination coverage.”
The variant is spreading and infecting unprotected and vulnerable people, he said.
Swaminathan warned that vaccinated people can still get Covid and pass it on to others. The reason behind WHO officials have been urge people to continue wearing masks and practice social distancing. “But certainly, it reduces your chances of severe hospitalization and death significantly,” she further said.
Few studies have proven that those infected with Covid after vaccination produce much less virus than those who are not vaccinated, reducing the risk of passing the virus to others; WHO officials said that studies are needed to understand the impact of the vaccine on transmissibility.
