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Date Published: 11/06/2021
ARCHIVED - First confirmed local transmission of Indian variant detected in Madrid
18 cases of this strain have been confirmed in Madrid this week alone leading to increasing concern about this latest variant of Covid
The region of Madrid has officially confirmed the first case of local transmission of the Indian variant in Spain.
There are now secondary cases of the variant being reported in people who have neither travelled abroad nor had contact with people who have been in India recently.
There have been 22 confirmed cases of the Indian, or Delta, strain in Madrid, of which 18 are from this week alone, as well as other suspected, but unconfirmed, cases. The Health authorities have stated that the Delta variant could be the predominant strain in Spain within just six or seven weeks.
The primary concern is that now that there is local transmission of this strain, it is no longer possible to trace the origin of the outbreak and, in addition, the Indian variant is said to be up to 50 per cent more contagious than the "Alpha" or Kent/British variant, which has been the predominant variant in Spain for several months.
The Deputy Minister of Public Health, Antonio Zapatero, has compared the current situation to that faced in December and January when the British, or Alpha, variant first reached Spain.
In light of the current situation Health officials in Madrid have decided to bring forward the second dose of AstraZenaca for the 60 to 69-year-olds by one week.
This decision is founded on scientific evidence, as, according to a recent study, one dose of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine is only 32 per cent effective against the Delta strain, and with two doses, the efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine increases to 88 per cent, while the immunity granted by AstraZeneca increases to just 60 per cent.
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