Delta-plus deaths force docs to defend efficacy of vaccines

The recent deaths of two fully vaccinated senior citizens in Maharashtra from Covid-19’s Delta-plus variant has forced experts to once again defend vaccination as the best bet against the SARS2 virus.

- Malathy Iyer & Sumitra DebRoy

Mumbai: Delta-plus – or AY.1 – has been found in 0.5% of 11,968 samples sequenced in Maharashtra since April 2021. In absolute numbers, it works out to 66 cases and five deaths registered so far.

Health officials said recent fatalities were among those with severe health conditions. The first was an 80-year-old from Sangameshwar, Ratnagiri, with severe mental illness, the second a 63-year-old woman from Mumbai with interstitial lung disease and the third a 69year-old from Raigad with hypertension and diabetes.

State surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate said barring those in fragile health, most infected with Delta-plus had mild or no symptoms.