60 to 69 year old’s who have got the AstraZeneca vaccine are still vulnerable to the Delta variant of covid-19, according to a leading immunologist.
The strain, which first originated in India, now makes up on in five new cases of the virus here.
The government does not believe the variant will impact on the reopening plans for July – which are set to be confirmed on Thursday week.
Experimental Immunology Professor Kingston Mills is concerned about how it could impact 60 to 69 year old’s who have got the AstraZeneca jab.
“This age group have been only given this vaccine and a lot of them have only been given one dose.
“So they are all vulnerable to the Delta variant and need to be boosted with an mRNA vaccine.
“I have made this point before and I am making it again because they don’t seem to be listening this.
“You’re asking a vulnerable age group to take a bigger risk that they could end up in hospital where as 30 and 20 year old’s are very unlikely if they get the Delta variant.”
Meanwhile, India’s declared a new coronavirus variant of concern, with nearly two dozen cases detected in three states.
It’s being called locally “Delta plus”, and is apparently even more transmissible than the standard Delta strain.
Yesterday India vaccinated a record 8-point-6 million people to try to protect its population, but experts doubt the country can maintain that pace.
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