Delta most transmissible variant identified so far: WHO

Guwahati, June 26 (NKTV): The Chief of World Health Organisation (WHO) has informed that the Delta variant of Covid-19, identified in at least 85 countries, is the “most transmissible” of the variants identified so far.

Speaking to media persons on Friday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the lack of vaccines in poor countries was exacerbating the delta variant’s transmission.

Tedros also said the global community was failing and risked repeating the mistakes made during the AIDS crisis decades ago and during the 2009 swine flu pandemic, when vaccines only arrived in poor countries after the outbreak ended.

“It took 10 years (for antiretrovirals) to reach the low income countries after (HIV) was already rampant in high income countries” he said. “Do we want to repeat the same thing?” he added

COVAX, the UN-backed effort aiming to distribute vaccines to poor countries, has missed several targets to share COVID-19 shots, and its biggest supplier is not expected to export any vaccines until the end of the year.

“The global situation is incredibly fragile” said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19. “The delta variant, the virus, will continue to evolve” Kerkhove added.