A study from the University of Oxford, UK has found that the protection from two Covid-19 vaccines weaken after 90 days of getting second dose with the Delta variant of the virus. Based on more than 3 million nose and throat swabs across UK, the study revealed that, after 90 days of getting second dose of Pfizer/BioNtech or AstraZeneca vaccine, the efficacy weakens to 75% and 61% respectively.
The efficacy of Pfizer is 85% and AstraZeneca is 68% after two weeks of taking second dose. But they show a drop after 90 days. This can be seen as an indicator towards why even vaccinated people are getting contracted with the virus.
The Delta variant is prevalent in many countries like UK, Ireland and India which caused a surge in case numbers recently. The study also points out that if fully vaccinated people are getting infected with the Delta variant, they pose grater risk to others than previous variants.
The efficacy shows declination particularly in people aged 35 and above compared to younger age group. So, people aged 35 and above might have to take more care while going outdoors and mingling with others even they are fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile the researchers also emphasized that both the vaccines are very effective even against Delta variant and drop in efficacy after a while doesn’t mean that we should not get vaccinated. Booster shots may be needed in future on which the discussions are ongoing in many countries. There is no further information on how much more the protection would drop over time.
The study was conducted in partnership with Britain’s Office of National Statistics and its Department for Health and Social Care.
Report -Reuters.
Additional reporting by: The Irish Times.