This is especially true for people with just a single dose of either Pfizer or AstraZeneca, both of which are 33 per cent protective against Delta.
data has shown that vaccinations are less effective against Delta when it comes to preventing symptomatic infections. On Monday, Public Health England released new research that likely unleashed a collective sigh of relief around the globe: “Vaccines highly effective against hospitalization from Delta variant,” the health agency said in a press release.Įarlier U.K.
data is telling us about the Delta story, and what it might portend for this next chapter in Canada’s fight against COVID-19.įirst, the good news. While Delta first emerged in India, the best data on this new variant has been coming out of the U.K., including early reports suggesting symptoms may have changed in younger people, with more reports of cold-like symptoms - headaches, runny noses and sore throats - and fewer people experiencing a loss of taste or smell. With Delta’s greater transmissibility - and early indications of increased hospitalization rates - COVID-19 now poses an even graver threat to unvaccinated Canadians, especially in marginalized communities where the risk of infection is higher and access to vaccines more difficult. He said a quarter are in Waterloo, which on Wednesday reported more daily cases than any other health unit. On Wednesday, the Science Table estimated that Delta now makes up 50 per cent of COVID cases in Ontario, translating to 200 new cases of the variant per day, according to Juni. “The virus has upped its game massively,” Juni said. The next two weeks will be crucial for determining how well Ontario fares against this formidable new foe, he said. Peter Juni, scientific director of the province’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. On Wednesday, the province reported 384 new cases - a level last seen in September - along with a record 202,984 new daily vaccinations.īut this week also saw Delta reach a tipping point in Ontario, where it’s on the cusp of becoming the dominant strain, said Dr. experience is unnerving experts around the world, including in Ontario, where case rates have been plummeting and vaccinations increasing. As COVID-19 vaccinations accelerate across the country, Canadians are inching toward a two-dose summer: patio umbrellas are reopening, vacations are being booked, and relatives are hugging for the first time in weeks, months or more than a year.īut across the Atlantic, a cautionary tale is unfolding in the United Kingdom, where the highly transmissible Delta variant of concern is driving an uptick in cases and forcing England to delay the next phase of their reopening by another month.