Fighting the Delta variant with Pfizer and AstraZeneca – just how effective are these vaccines

Fighting the Delta variant with Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots has proven to be effective according to a new study.

Many expats in Spain have now been double jabbed against the coronavirus, but many have been left wondering just how effective this is against the Delta variant.

According to a new study released on Wednesday, July 21, two doses of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines are nearly as effective as they are against the Alpha variant.  The Delta variant is highly transmissible and is spreading rapidly around the world.

According to officials two doses of the vaccines are highly effective. One jab though sadly is not enough to offer high protection.

One expat told EWN: “I’m double jabbed now, but the Delta variant is worrying me.”

Scientists have released a study in the New England Journal of Medicine and this confirms what Public Health England said in May regarding how effective the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines are.

Something that is sure to help reassure many people is that the study found that two doses of Pfizer came in at 88 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic disease due to the Delta variant. Two shots of the same jab are 93.7 per cent effective against the Alpha variant.

Regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine two shots were found to be 67 per cent effective against the Delta variant. This is an increase in what had originally been reported which was only 60 per cent. Against the Alpha variant the AstraZeneca comes in at 74.5 per cent effective after two jabs.

“Only modest differences in vaccine effectiveness were noted with the Delta variant as compared with the Alpha variant after the receipt of two vaccine doses,” said Public Health England.

Effectiveness of the vaccines is far less when only one shot has been given. “Our finding of reduced effectiveness after the first dose would support efforts to maximise vaccine uptake with two doses among vulnerable groups in the context of circulation of the Delta variant,” said the study authors.

Sadly one dose of Pfizer is only 36 per cent effective and AstraZeneca comes in at an even lower figure 30 per cent effective, against the Delta variant.

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