WHO Warns on COVID Variant: "Delta Mutation to Become Global Dominant Strain"

60% More Contagious Than UK-Origin Alpha Variant
"Already Significantly Advanced"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concerns that the novel coronavirus Delta (India-origin) variant could become the dominant strain worldwide. It has been confirmed to have about 60% stronger transmissibility than the original Wuhan-origin COVID-19 or the UK-origin Alpha variant.

According to major foreign media, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, WHO Chief Scientist, stated at a press conference held on the 18th (local time) at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, "The Delta variant has significantly higher transmissibility and is in the process of becoming the dominant strain globally, which is quite advanced."

According to WHO, the Delta variant has now spread to more than 80 countries. The Delta variant is known to have about 60% stronger transmissibility not only compared to the original novel coronavirus but also compared to the UK-origin Alpha variant. In fact, the Delta variant has displaced the Alpha variant and become the dominant strain in the UK.

In the United States, it was recently found that 10% of new infections were caused by the Delta variant. This is about 4 percentage points higher than last week's 6%, indicating stronger infectivity than other variants. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), appeared on ABC News that day and said she believes the Delta variant will become the dominant strain in the U.S.

Meanwhile, at the same press conference, Chief Scientist Swaminathan also expressed disappointment over the lower-than-expected COVID-19 prevention efficacy of the German pharmaceutical company CureVac's vaccine. CureVac's vaccine CVnCoV showed only 47% efficacy in an interim analysis of clinical trials. This level of efficacy is lower than that of other messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, making it difficult to obtain approval for use in various countries.

Chief Scientist Swaminathan emphasized the need for rigorous clinical trials, stating, "Since each vaccine uses slightly different technology, it should not be assumed that all mRNA vaccines are the same."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.