On Wednesday, July 21, a study published revealed that two doses of Pfizer or AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine are nearly as effective against the highly transmissible Delta variant as they are against the previously dominant Alpha variant. However, the study reiterated that one shot of the vaccines is not enough for high protection.
The findings from a study of nearly, 19,000 teens and adults across the UK suggested that vaccine protection against Delta is very strong when people get both shots.
The research, published in The New England Journal of Medicine showed that just one dose of either Pfizer's or AstraZeneca's vaccine protected people from symptomatic infections only about one-third of the time.
The researchers found that with only one shot on board, Pfizer's vaccine was just 36 per cent effective against symptomatic Delta cases, while AstraZeneca's vaccine was 30 per cent effective.
Meanwhile, when patients were fully vaccinated, with two shots both given at least two weeks to take effect, Pfizer became about 88 per cent effective against symptomatic coronavirus from the Delta variant, while AstraZeneca's vaccine was 67 per cent effective against it.
Experts noted that getting two shots of a vaccine gives the body a chance to develop a more robust immune response to COVID-19, which ramps up its attack on the virus. Besides, even with Delta prevalent, all the usual pandemic protocols, including masking, distancing, and limiting exposure, still help.
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