Apart from parts of South America where the lambda variant predominates, the delta SARS-CoV-2 variant has largely taken over …
causing surges of cases in many regions. In Oceania it is now the main variant driving cases leading to extended lockdowns in Australia. Today, 832 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Sydney which has already been in partial lockdowns for the past two months; this is the highest number of new cases throughout the pandemic so far. We have now surpassed the numbers observed during our second wave in July-August 2020 (peaked at ~700 cases per day); epidemiological modelling is suggesting it will probably get worse.
New Zealand where it obvious that the aim from the beginning has been to achieve COVID-0, is now also in lockdown with approximately 20 new cases per day reported in past few days. The rapid lockdown in that country is not unexpected given the past actions of the Government, and goal of COVID-0. In Melbourne, despite a strict lockdown for over two weeks now, we are saying small increases in numbers (61 reported today).
Although Australia and New Zealand are both doing well in containing the virus through restrictions and lockdowns, vaccination rate remain low (approximately 20% of the population vaccinated in both countries). It is important that lockdown rules are followed properly until our vaccination rates increases significantly. Now is not the time for parties like the “famous” 70 people engagement party in Melbourne, and the anti-lockdown/anti-mask/anti-vax/ demonstrations in Melbourne and Sydney today. Save that crap for a time when there is not a public health crisis – of course, peaceful demonstrations are great and important … just not now! It’s important we keep numbers low to give contact tracers a chance and our hospitals the opportunity to give people the best possible care when problems arise.
Unfortunately, from observations around the world, particularly, Israel and the US, we see that relatively high vaccination rates are probably not going to be enough for COVID-0. In the US there is a delta surge in many states and particularly problematic areas are Florida, Iowa, and Mississippi where hospitals are reportedly close to being overwhelmed. In Israel where approximately 80% of the population is fully vaccinated, approximately 7,500 new cases are now being reported every day. This highlights that the delta variant is particularly tricky, and is somewhat evading the vaccine. Nevertheless, fully vaccinated people are still highly protected from severe COVID-19, hospitalization and death compared to unvaccinated people.
According to these observations and emerging data, booster shots are a great idea; hopefully, new vaccines addressing the delta variant directly are also in the making. I’m pretty sure I’m wrong but I’m hoping it’s not situation where the vaccine-maker thought might be – “let’s cash in on a round of booster shots now and then release version 2 vaccines targeting the delta variant for another round of cash later”; it’s public health not an iPhone, so probably not the case.
Thankfully, we have vaccines that still protect from severe COVID-19 and hospitalization right now – it really is a miracle given the timeline.
Until next time …