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BREAKING
Hamas confirms that it has no connection to the shooting incident in Rafah and affirms its commitment to the ceasefire agreement
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Two civilians were killed and four others, including a child and an infant, were injured in an Israeli bombing of a house belonging to the Al-Banna family in the al-Sabra neighborhood, south of Gaza City
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: An Israeli airstrike targets the vicinity of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, west of Gaza City
Al-Qassam: We will postpone the handover of the body of the Israeli captive we found, which was scheduled for today, due to the occupation's violations
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: Israeli occupation aircraft launch airstrikes on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip
Netanyahu's office: At the end of the security consultations, the prime minister instructed the military to launch massive military strikes on the Gaza Strip immediately
President Aoun: We urge the activation of the monitoring committee, the cessation of hostilities, ongoing Israeli violations, attacks
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to US Envoy Morgan Ortagus: Southerners must be enabled to return to their homes and rebuild
Syrian sources: The Israeli occupation has begun withdrawing from the areas it infiltrated last night in the Quneitra countryside.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Massive bombings in eastern Gaza, the second within half an hour, and its sound was heard from central area.

Why Is Delta More Transmissible?

  • By Al Mayadeen
  • Source: Agencies
  • 8 Aug 2021 13:29
  • 1 Shares
2 Min Read

While a recent study indicated that the Delta variant of the coronavirus is the most contagious version of the coronavirus worldwide, the good news is that our current crop of COVID-19 jabs is proved to be relatively effective against it.

  • x
  •  Delta was first discovered in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
    Delta was first discovered in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

The Delta variant was previously known as the “Indian variant”, as it was first discovered in the Indian state of Maharashtra in late 2020 and has since spread throughout the country, displacing the Alpha variant and other pre-existing lineages of COVID-19, according to a recent study.

It’s The Most Contagious 

Scientists have recently reached an agreement after months of data collection, revealing that the delta variant of the coronavirus is the most contagious version of the coronavirus worldwide. It spreads two to three times faster than the original virus and is currently dominating the outbreak in the United States, accounting for more than 80% of COVID cases.

  • Delta variant has more syncytia than SARS-CoV-2
    Delta variant has more syncytia than SARS-CoV-2

The Delta is also more effective at cell destruction due to a mutation at position 681 of its spike protein, which is rapidly becoming common in other variants around the world and is thought to be an evolutionary game changer. 

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This P681R mutation facilitates Delta and related Kappa variants' invasion of the host cell, by fusing infected cells into structures known as a syncytium.

Kei Sato, a virologist at The University of Tokyo in Japan explained that “in cell culture experiments, we discovered that the Delta variant has more syncytia than SARS-CoV-2.” 

The Delta variant's spike protein has also experienced multiple mutations, which seem to improve the virus's ability to bind to the ACE2 receptor and evade the immune response.

Vaccines Still Work Well 

A new report stressed that only a complete dose of the COVID-19 vaccine can protect against this deadly variant, which is now dominant in the US, UK, and more than a dozen other countries.

  • Vaccines can effectively slow down the contagious pandemic
    Vaccines can effectively slow down the contagious pandemic

According to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccines are likely to protect against Delta, though not as well as they did against previous variants.

Even though vaccines can effectively slow down the contagious pandemic by increasing herd immunity, precautionary measures such as social distancing and masking are proven policies along with vaccination in curbing the spread of the virus.

  • delta variant
  • delta
  • COVID-19
  • COVID-19 Vaccines
  • Transmissible

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