Unvaccinated persons at higher risk of contracting deadly Delta variant – Dr Anthony warns

The Delta variant of COVID-19, which has been labelled as severe due to its dominant traits in infections, is causing resurgences and spikes in several countries around the world.

On Friday, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony warned that unvaccinated persons are at very high risk of getting infected and hospitalised.
This variant, which was first detected in India, is said to be the most contagious yet as authorities continue to track the spread which it has caused. In fact, the transmissibility is said to be twice higher than the UK’s Alpha variant.
“This one is very severe and what they have noted is that people who are unvaccinated would be the persons who would be getting infected with this variant more often. So, unvaccinated persons are going to be at higher risk of getting infected with this particular variant. There is also that possibility that even if you had an infection before, that you can get reinfected,” Dr Anthony outlined.
Since the virus was first detected in the Wuhan province of China, there have been several mutations. From the first-discovered Alpha strain in the United Kingdom last year, authorities have moved to trace the Beta and Gamma variants. However, the Delta variant has been dominant in many countries, including the US and UK. It has caused a resurgence of the infections in Portugal and current spikes in Russia.
“This particular strain of the virus would have caused a lot of people getting infected, hospitalised…In some cases, hospitals could not cope with the amount of persons who required hospitalisation and they were lots of persons who died because they were not able to get the care. This particular variant, because of its transmissibility, would have also spread to a number of countries.”
He added, “It is causing an increase in cases and it is causing more hospitalisation and possibly more deaths. This particular variant has nine mutations on the spike protein and because of where these mutations have occurred, this particular variant is more transmissible. It is twice more transmissible than the Alpha variant, which was the one in the UK. That is one of the hallmarks. If people get it, it is going to be passed on very quickly.”
It was highlighted that the Polymerase Chain Reaction testing is currently being done in Guyana and would be able to detect these variants. However, vaccines will protect from the worse form of the virus if a person were to contract it. Calls were made for Guyanese to visit one of the vaccination sites and get their jab.
“Some of the studies that have been done, if you’re fully vaccinated, it protects you from the more severe form of the disease that this particular variant can generate…In all the countries where they have seen this variant circulating, there is a big push to get people vaccinated. I want to make that call here as well to make sure that people are vaccinated so that we can prevent any variant from affecting our population.”
The World Health Organisation on Friday called for vaccinated people to continue wearing masks, social distance and practice other COVID-19 pandemic safety measures as the Delta variant spreads rapidly across borders.