• On average, people have shown symptoms 5.8 days after being infected with the Delta variant 

By Sheain Fernandopulle 

The fully vaccinated individuals are 65% less likely than unvaccinated individuals to infect others, Dr. Chandima Jeewandara from the University of Jayawardenepura said.

Dr. Jeewandara who is the Director of the Allergy, Immunology and Cell Biology Unit of Sri Jayawardenepura University said in a Twitter message that this is a significant and reassuring finding as COVID-19 vaccines remain effective and a vital part of our response to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, he said on average, people have shown symptoms 5.8 days after being infected with the Delta variant of the COVID-19.  Dr. Jeewandara said before the Delta variant emerged, individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 took an average of 6.3 days to develop symptoms and 5.5 days to test positive for viral RNA, leaving a narrower window of 0.8 days for oblivious viral shedding.

“As a result, 74% of infections with the Delta variant were during the presymptomatic phase, which is a higher proportion than for previous variants,” he underlined.  He proceeded to say that the Delta variant has an R0 of 6.4, which is much higher than the R0 of 2.4 estimated for the original version of SARS-CoV-2.  R0 indicates how contagious is an infectious disease is.  The health authorities have so far vaccinated 12,053,137 with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines, while 5,311,784 have received both doses.

• The health authorities have so far vaccinated 12,053,137 with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines, while 5,311,784 have received both doses