Delta (and Lambda) Could Breed More Dangerous Coronavirus Variants, but Vaccines Aren’t At Fault
A comprehensive overview of what’s happening and what might happen as we face the evolving coronavirus.
A thought came to my mind: What if a population of unvaccinated and vaccinated hosts creates a selection pressure that selects for the evolution of more dangerous variants than Delta? Let’s take a critical look at whether this concern is justified and see what’s happening and what might happen as we engage in an evolutionary arms race with SARS-CoV-2.
(Note: variants mentioned herein belong to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes Covid-19.)
Delta’s current data
Following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) new naming system, the variant under the lineage B.1.617.2 — first discovered in India in December 2020 — is called Delta. Delta has several mutations in its spike protein that endow it with abilities to bind to cells and evade the immune system’s antibodies much more efficiently.
I. More infectious and transmissible
Delta is 40–60% more transmissible than Alpha, a rapidly spreading variant first noted in…
