Equipo Nizkor - Delta Covid variant 40% more transmissible, says Hancock.

The Delta (India) variant of the coronavirus is estimated to be 40% more transmissible than the Alpha (UK) variant that caused the last wave of infections in the UK, Britain's health minister has said.

But people who have received two doses of vaccine, should be equally protected against either variant, Matt Hancock added.

"That figure, around 40% more transmissible, is indeed the latest advice I have," he told Sky News.

The Delta variant is now the dominant strain in the UK, according to Public Health England figures.

It was the Alpha variant that forced the UK into lockdown in January.

Mr Hancock said the 40% figure came from the government body of scientific advisors, SAGE.

Concern is mounting over whether the emergence of the Delta variant threatens the government's provisional 21 June deadline for lifting virus restrictions.

Mr Hancock acknowledged that the Delta variant "does make the calculation more difficult for 21 June".

"We'll look at the data for another week and then make a judgement," he told the BBC, stressing that the government was "absolutely open" to delaying the lifting of restrictions.

The minister nevertheless stressed that those who have had two doses of vaccine should be protected against illness from the Delta variant.

Public Health England said last month that research showed double vaccination was similarly effective against both the Alpha and Delta variants.

"The best scientific advice I have at this stage is that, after one jab, it's not quite as effective against the new Delta variant, but after both jabs, it is," Mr Hancock told the BBC.

So far hospitalisations are "broadly flat", with very few hospitalised after receiving both vaccine doses, he added.

The UK has so far given more than 27 million people two doses - more than 50% of adults - while more than 40 million have had one dose.

Mr Hancock said the government was "taking clinical advice" on whether to extend the vaccination programme to children over 12, who are believed to be playing a major role in spreading the virus. But this would not be mandatory, he added.

Johnson to urge G7 leaders to 'defeat Covid'

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will urge G7 leaders to "defeat Covid" by vaccinating the world by the end of next year, as he pushes for a global watch system to catch new variants before they can plunge countries back into lockdown.

He is set to stress the importance of the global vaccine programme when he meets with world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, on Friday in Cornwall for the first face-to-face G7 meeting since the pandemic hit.

Setting the scene before their gathering in Carbis Bay, Mr Johnson is calling on his counterparts to "rise to the greatest challenge of the post-war era" by "vaccinating the world by the end of next year", in a move he said would be the single greatest feat in medical history.

No 10 said Mr Johnson will tell his counterparts that the world's biggest economies must lower barriers to the international distribution of vaccines and share surplus doses with developing countries bilaterally and through Covax, the United-Nations backed scheme aiming to supply low and medium income countries with jabs.

Meanwhile, a global health expert has said that eradicating coronavirus from the world is not currently a "reasonable target".

People will have to learn to live with the disease, World Health Organization special envoy on Covid-19 Dr David Nabarro said.

His comments were echoed by the president of the Academy of Medical Sciences, who said the aim will be to minimise the amount of severe disease the virus causes.

Dr Nabarro told Sky News: "Humanity is going to have to learn how to co-exist with this virus, preventing it from spiking and then surging and causing hotspots of disease, and we're going to have to be able to do this for the foreseeable future.

"Eradication is not currently a reasonable target for the world."

"Each time there is a sudden surge, it does stimulate in one's mind the thought that there might be a new variant appearing. That wouldn't be surprising."

He said that will be "the pattern for the future", adding: "This virus isn't going away any time soon, there will be variants emerging."

06Jun21

Delta Covid variant 40% more transmissible, says Hancock

[Source: RTÉ, , Ireland's National Public Service Media, Dublin, 06Jun21]

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