Covid vax may not be enough, masks, distancing must continue: WHO

Also read: Third wave in Africa is spreading faster, hitting harder: WHO

Even as Covid vaccines helped drive down the number of new infections and deaths, many countries, including the US and Israel, have largely done away with masks and pandemic-related restrictions. Israel had lifted the mandate on masks on June 15, following one of the world' fastest successful vaccine roll out. However, about 50 per cent of vaccinated adults in the country have now been infected with the Delta variant, forcing it to re-impose wearing face masks indoors, the Wall Street Journal reported. "Yes, you can reduce some measures and different countries have different recommendations in that regard. But there's still the need for caution," Bruce Aylward, a senior advisor to the WHO's director-general, was quoted as saying by CNBC.

"As we are seeing, there are new variants emerging," he said. The WHO further said that there have been reports claiming that the Delta variant also causes more severe symptoms, but more research is needed to confirm those conclusions. It has the potential "to be more lethal because it's more efficient in the way it transmits between humans and it will eventually find those vulnerable individuals who will become severely ill, have to be hospitalised and potentially die," Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO's health emergencies programme, had shared last week.

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