Official Gheorghita: By getting vaccinated we are protected from the Delta variant

The anti-COVID vaccine also offers protection against the Delta variant, and without increasing the vaccination rate it will be very difficult to avoid later an increase in the number of SARS-CoV-2 virus infections, the head of the National Committee for the Coordination of Vaccination Activities against COVID-19, Valeriu Gheorghita, stated on Wednesday.

"Vaccination reduces transmission by reducing the risk of asymptomatic infection by 50pct to 70pct, which means that, even if a vaccinated person tests positive, we have very clear data showing that after at least one dose transmission is reduced by about 30 to 50pct. Thus, even if a person tests positive after the first dose of vaccine the risk to pass the infection to those we come into touch with decreases by 50pct. (...) It is very clear that without increasing the vaccination rate, without increasing the number of vaccinated people, it will be very difficult to avoid an increase in the number of cases later. (....) By vaccinating we are safe in the face of this Delta variant. (...) A person who tests positive, a patient who is infected with this Delta strain can generate another 6-7 secondary cases. This means a very high attack rate of the disease among the population and especially among the unvaccinated population," the military doctor told Digi 24 private television broadcaster.

According to him, there is currently no question of administering a third dose of vaccine.

"At the moment there is no question of a third dose due to the lack of data and the fact that so far the vaccines have maintained their benefits, they maintain protection. Even if the protection is slightly lower in the case of the Delta variant, for asymptomatic infection and milder cases, it still functions when it comes to moderate-severe, critical, serious forms that reach the hospital," the CNCAV representative showed.

He stated that currently in Romania the dominant variant of the virus is the British one, but the data show at this moment that there are many countries in which the Delta strain has become dominant.

"At the moment the dominant strain in Romania is the Alpha strain - the British strain. We have it in entire Europe, in 84pct of the sequences performed the result is the British Alpha strain. However, the data show at this time that there are many countries in which the Delta strain has become dominant," Valeriu Gheorghita also said.

He recalled that more than 3.2 billion doses of the vaccine had been administered worldwide.

"There are more than 3.2 billion doses of vaccine given, but developing countries have up to 1pct of the population vaccinated," said the chairman of the National Committee on Vaccination Against COVID-19.