Larry Brilliant is an epidemiologist working for the World Health Organization. He was part of the team that helped with the eradication of smallpox and has experience in epidemics. Brilliant is also the founder and CEO of Pandefense Advisory, a pandemic response consultancy. The expert believes that the SARS-CoV-2 virus, especially the Delta strain, is probably the most contagious virus.
The Delta variant took over the world
The CDC confirmed that the Delta strain is responsible for more than 93% of new cases in the U.S. In European countries, governments struggle to avoid outbreaks. Africa and Asia are both struggling with the Delta strain. The WHO labelled the Delta variant as a variant of concern. It is a highly contagious virus, and even those fully vaccinated can spread it to others. However, vaccination is the only weapon we have to eradicate this pandemic. Several approved vaccines are circulating worldwide: Oxford AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Sputnik, Sinovac, Coronavac and others.
Brilliant believes the virus will keep evolving
Until we have more people vaccinated worldwide, the virus will continue to infect new hosts and mutate. New variants will appear, some more dangerous than others. Brilliant also mentioned that we are nowhere near the end of the pandemic. We can say that the pandemic originated in 2019 as just started and will continue until we vaccinate everyone in more than 200 countries. The good news is that Covid-19 vaccines work and prevent those infected from dying or developing severe cases in need of a ventilator or other drastic medical treatment. The epidemiologist urges everyone to get any available Covid-19 vaccine if we want to get closer to the end of the pandemic. Until then, different variants will emerge.