With multiple variants emerging of COVID-19, the 'delta' variant which was the version first detected in India in October last year is said to be capable of infecting people even after they have received both doses of the Covaxin or Covishield vaccines. The results have been found in separate studies conducted by the AIIMS (Delhi) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
As per a NDTV report, that neither study has been peer-reviewed as yet.
According to AIIMS study, the 'delta' variant including one by British health authorities, say is between 40 and 50 percent more infectious than the 'alpha' version first reported from the UK which is likely behind the majority of breakthrough infections in India.
The AIIMS-IGIB (Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology) study was based on an analysis of 63 symptomatic patients who were admitted to the hospital's emergency ward complaining of high fever persisting for five to seven days.
53 out of 63 had been given at least one dose of Covaxin and the rest at least one dose of Covishield. Thirty-six had received both doses of one of these vaccines. 76.9 per cent of infections by the 'delta' variant were recorded in people who had received a single dose, and 60 percent in people who had received both doses.
On the other hand, data from the NCDC-IGIB study indicated that breakthrough infections due to the 'delta' variant seemed to affect people who took Covishield.
Data from both studies indicated the 'alpha' variant is also proving resistant to Covishield and Covaxin, but not as significantly as the version first reported from India.
Both studies also indicated that while the vaccine's protection against the 'delta', and even 'alpha', variants may be reduced, severity of infection in each case appeared to be unaffected as a result.
Meanwhile, India has reported over 2.9 crore COVID-19 infections so far, of which around 12.31 lakh are active cases and around 3.53 lakh are deaths. This morning the country reported around 92,000 new cases in 24 hours as it limps back to normalcy after a devastating second wave of infections.
