The Delta Variant Plus is also known as Ay, 1. The first case was reported in India in April 2021. It is the sub-lineage of the original Delta Variant. It was detected when 40 samples were taken from three states – Maharashtra, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh. Where 16 samples were found positive in Maharashtra.
Delta variant plus is also found in twenty-nine other countries. There are 430 plus Delta Variant Plus cases that have been detected worldwide where 70 plus cases are from India.
On Tuesday, South Korea announced that it had recorded its first two cases of Delta Variant Plus. South Korea is recording the largest surge of infections but most are driven by the original Delta strain.
According to some scientists, the Delta variant plus contains an additional mutation, which is called K417N. These experts believe Delta variant plus is more transmissible than the original Delta variant.
On the other hand, Dr. Jeremy Kamil, a virologist at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport believes that there is nothing more dangerous than the original Delta variant. Dr. Jeremy Kamil added It might have an advantage at infecting people who has a weak immune system or incomplete vaccine immunity or who were previously infected during the pandemic.
The existing vaccines are working against the Delta variant but they are much less effective. A single dose of the Pfizer or the AstraZeneca vaccine was only 33 percent effective against symptomatic disease caused by the Delta variant.
New research has shown Moderna’s vaccine is less effective against Delta Variant as compared to johnson & johnson which is about 60 percent effective.
