• Delta variant, first identified in India, rapid to become dominant
• WHO the scientist expected more from the CureVac shooting candidate
• Africa’s trajectory “concerning” in a context of vaccine shortage (adds details, comments from WHO officials)

GENEVA – The Delta variant of COVID-19, first identified in India, is to become the worldwide dominant variant of the disease, the chief scientist of the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Soumya Swaminathan also expressed disappointment over the failure of CureVac’s vaccine candidate in a trial to address the WHOthe standard of effectiveness of, especially as highly transmissible variants increase the need for new, effective shots.

Britain has reported a sharp rise in infections with the Delta variant, as Germany’s top public health official predicted he would quickly become the dominant variant there despite rising vaccination rates.

The Kremlin blamed a wave of COVID-19 cases of reluctance to be vaccinated and of “nihilism” after new record infections in Moscow, mainly with the new Delta variant, stoked fears of a third wave.

“The Delta variant is on track for to become the dominant variant worldwide due to its increased transmissibility, ”Swaminathan said at a press conference.

Coronavirus variants were cited by CureVac when the German company announced this week that its vaccine was only 47% effective in preventing disease, far from the WHO‘s benchmark of 50%.

The company said it documented at least 13 variants circulating within its study population.

Since similar mRNA vaccines from Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna have shown efficacy rates in excess of 90%, Swaminathan said the world expects more from the CureVac candidate.

“Just because this is another mRNA vaccine, we cannot assume that all mRNA vaccines are the same because each has slightly different technology,” Swaminathan said, adding that the surprise failure emphasized the value of robust clinical trials for testing new products.

WHO Officials said Africa remains an area of ​​concern, even though it only accounts for around 5% of new global infections and 2% of deaths.

New cases in Namibia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Rwanda doubled last week, WHO said emergency program chief Mike Ryan, while access to vaccines remains minimal.

“It’s a trajectory that is very, very worrying,” said Ryan. “The brutal reality is that in an era of multiple variants, with increased transmissibility, we have left large swathes of the population, Africa’s vulnerable population, unprotected by vaccines. »(Report by John Miller, written by Giles Elgood, edited by Catherine Evans and Michael Shields)