New Delhi: Following the findings by the US federal agency, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), demonstrating that Delta infection resulted in similarly high SARS-CoV-2 viral loads in vaccinated and unvaccinated people, experts in India on Saturday said that the findings are very important in the Indian context.
“These findings are very important. In addition to the use of masks we also need to be careful about indoor meetings, co-working and outdoor activities like social gatherings in restaurants, bars etc and festive gatherings for any purpose,” said senior health expert and president of Asian Society for Emergency Medicine Dr Tamorish Kole.
CDC Director Rochelle P Walensky has said that data published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), demonstrated that Delta infection resulted in similarly high SARS-CoV-2 viral loads in vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
“High viral loads suggest an increased risk of transmission and raise concern that, unlike with other variants, vaccinated people infected with Delta can transmit the virus. This finding is concerning and was a pivotal discovery leading to CDC’s updated mask recommendation. The masking recommendation was updated to ensure the vaccinated public would not unknowingly transmit the virus to others, including their unvaccinated or immunocompromised loved ones,” said Walensky.
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The CDC recommends that everyone wear a mask in indoor public settings in areas of substantial and high transmission, regardless of vaccination status.
Talking on the findings of CDC, Dr Kole said, “We always knew that the universal use of masks is the new normal. It should be worn at all times whenever there is a perceived risk of transmission, be it outdoor or indoor. The current study suggests that the virus can spread through vaccinated individuals as well and therefore there is no scope of letting down the guard until we see the end of the pandemic.”
Although scientists in India claimed that both Covaxin and Covishield work well against all forms of presently available Covid-19 variants in India, it is worth mentioning that study on the vaccine effectiveness over the Delta plus variant is still going on.
“We are noticing that Covid R-value is climbing steadily in the country. This is a matter of concern in terms of transmission. If we are a bit wiser today compared to what we knew during the third wave; we should vaccinate as much and as quickly as possible,” said Dr Kole.
The R-factor indicates the speed at which Covid-19 infection is spreading in the country.
State governments across India, of late, have started giving more relaxation over Covid-19 restrictions. Even the metro trains have also been allowed to run with 100 percent capacity.
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As many as 10 States across India continued to witness a rise in the Covid graph as 44,230 new cases were reported on Friday. The number was also the highest in three weeks, prompting fears of another wave of infections. The Union Health Ministry has also noted that cases in Kerala and almost in all Northeastern States have been climbing steadily.
