Vaccines vs. Delta Variant

All three vaccines that have been approved for use in the United States have been proven to be effective in varying degrees agains the original variant. Scientists are still trying to establish whether these vaccines are as effective against it.

Current data shows that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is about 88% effective from preventing infection from the Delta variant in fully vaccinated individuals. Pfizer and BioNTech are currently in the process of developing a third dose that will act as a booster against the Delta variant. The recent data from the Israeli Ministry of Health showed the vaccine’s effectiveness declines after 6 months spurred them to begin research. Clinical trials could be underway as early as August.

Multiple lab studies suggest that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine works against the Delta variant. Like Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna is also researching the benefits of a third dose. The most interesting finding was that the Moderna vaccine is far more effective in producing antibodies again Delta than it is against Beta. In the same study, the Pfizer vaccine was found to be 87% effective and suggested that the Moderna vaccine is 72% effective against the Delta variant after only one dose. Two doses of either vaccine were found to be likely to provide even more protection.

There is very little data that shows how effective this vaccine is against the Delta variant. Johnson & Johnson is currently researching whether a second shot would boost immunity against the variants. A recent clinical study suggests that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is 85% effective against severe infection and demonstrated “strong, persistent” protection against hospitalization and death. The same study also found that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine prompted “neutralizing antibody activity” which prevents the virus from infecting healthy cells, against the Delta variant at a higher level than it did for the Beta variant.