More than 200 million people have been infected by the coronavirus. Recently the world has
seen a rise in the cases because of the delta variant. Less people are willing to take their
jabs as there are claims that the vaccines aren’t effective against this variant.
But is this really true? To check this out we have come to the University Clinic of Bonn.
It is one of the biggest hospitals in Germany. We’ll talk to the leading doctors here and
try to understand how the delta variant is affecting the coronavirus cases!
Doctor Jens-Christian Schewe works in the intensive care unit. He says among those admitted
to hospitals with the delta variant only very few have been fully vaccinated.
SOT Schewe: If you see that 99% of the severe courses that we have treated (in Bonn) so
far did not have a vaccination, then you can certainly deduce from this that at least the
severe courses are certainly protected by a vaccination.
Does a full vaccination still protect against the delta variant? Here is what some people
say on social media:
Claim: Some say the COVID vaccines do not work at all
Verdict: False
The latest numbers (page 3 + 17) show that recorded cases of the delta variant in Germany
make up 97 percent of all COVID cases. The number of hospitalizations is higher for this
variant than it was for the initial one.
Claim: COVID vaccines offer 100% protection from the delta variant
Verdict: False
According to experts and scientific evidence there are three main reasons why some people
who have been fully vaccinated can still be at risk of serious illness or death from the
delta variant.
Looking at the efficacy rate of the vaccines we see that none of them offer a 100 percent
protection against COVID-19.
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan is currently the Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization.
She says all the corona vaccines help against the delta variant.
SOT Swaminathan: They all do protect against getting infected to varying degrees across
the different vaccines. But what's really important is that all of them protect against
severe disease.
One reason for a low efficacy is that there are people with a low immune response.
SOT Swaminathan: The immune response varies from individual to individual and it's impacted
by a number of factors. And age is one of those factors, as the immune responses in
very young children and very old people are usually weaker than they would be in a healthy
adult. Underline illness and other factors can also affect immune response.
Reason number two is that vaccinated individuals' jabs can lack efficacy if they take specific
medicines.
People who have received immunosuppressive therapy or have had transplants do not respond
quite as well to the vaccine.
Despite the high efficacy of the approved vaccines, experts assume there is a waning
effect. Therefore, a third reason is that the efficacy of the vaccination weakens with
time.
SOT Behrens: But the efficacy of the vaccine becomes less effective. And some people, under
unfortunate constellations, can still suffer a serious illness.
Worldwide, some people died of the delta variant despite being fully vaccinated. Is the COVID-19
vaccination no longer sufficient? A look at the facts shows: Yes, complete vaccinations
are still the best protection you can get against delta.
Claim: The currently approved COVID vaccines do not offer enough protection against the
delta variant Verdict: False
The best chances of avoiding hospitalization or a deadly course of the delta variant is
by getting a full vaccination.
The numbers vary in the trials and real-life studies in various countries. The data currently
available for the vaccines approved by the EU shows that they offer a very high protection:
Animation:
According to a Canadian study (page 10), the effectiveness of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccination
against the delta variant in terms of completely preventing infection is at 56% after the first
jab and at 87% after a full vaccination.
According to the same study, the Moderna vaccine shows high protection from the delta variant
of 72% after the first dose. However, there is not enough data to show how high the protection
is after two jabs.
According to a UK study, people vaccinated with AstraZeneca are 71 % protected after
the first vaccination and 92 % after the second.
Johnson & Johnson itself claims that its vaccine produced a strong immune response. However,
no precise figures have been provided and there is no independent data yet.
All experts interviewed by DW are convinced that the vaccines are effective against the
delta variant.
SOT Swaminathan: The vaccination is a very good tool, but it's not the only tool that
we have to control this infection. And it's good to continue with those personal protective
measures for some time to come.
These first study results indicate that the delta variant is more resistant to the vaccines
- but a full vaccination continues to provide strong protection even against this variant.
Have you seen online misinformation on COVID-19 or the vaccines that we should check? Let
us know in the comment section below or write us at factchecking@dw.com