Pfizer vaccine more effective against delta variant – Prof. Awandare
The Head of the West Africa Center for Cell Biology and Infectious Pathogens at the University of Ghana, Professor Gordon Awandare, has said the AstraZeneca and Sputnik v vaccines are effective enough to fight against the new COVID-19 strains.
In an interview with Citi News, Professor Gordon Awandare said procuring the Pfizer vaccines puts the country in a better position to fight the new variant.
“If you look at the new variants that we have had (South African variant and the Indian variants) and look at the data from all the other countries, the Pfizer vaccine seems to be the one that is able to have a more reliable effect on these variants.”
“In terms of all these levels of protection (deaths, hospitalization). So the Pfizer vaccine seems to do better against these new variants.”
Prof. Gordon Awandare added that preparations are underway to test a newer version of the Sputnik-V, with the sampling of over 1,000 persons.
“This is based on comparing two groups of people; maybe 1,000 or 2,000 people, you give some the vaccine and you give others a dummy vaccine, and then you monitor them for a few months, and then you test them again to see those who have been infected and have not been infected to see whether the vaccine is protecting them or not.”
Prof. Awandare also called for strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols to avoid a spread of the highly contagious variant.
“It is not too different from the normal COVID in terms of the clinical presentation. It means that if the original COVID-19 infected ten people for each infected person, this will infect maybe 17 or 18 people. The good thing is that the same protocols will work. It is about how we strictly adhere to those protocols.”
Delta Variant Recorded Cases So Far
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) says the Delta Coronavirus strain, first detected in India, has been identified in Ghana through testing at the port health centre, but there is currently no evidence of community spread.
As of now, the country has detected six Delta variants of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 virus) from all samples
taken between April and June, 2021 at the ports of entry.
Let’s Be Serious
Meanwhile Fred Binka, a Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho has asked government to scale up testing for Covid-19 in the country.
He has asked the Ghana Health Service to stop indicating that the deadly Indian strain has only been recorded at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) and not yet in the communities.
Speaking in an interview on TV3, Prof Binka said “We have to test more now and be able to detect where this virus is going and stop saying it is only at the airport. If you don’t test the more how many positives will you find.”
