Difference Between Delta, Delta Plus, and Lambda (and Why You Shouldn’t Panic)
Delta Plus, a variant of one of the variants, is the latest strain of the coronavirus that causes COVID to hit the news. (The formerly known variant, Lambda, also makes headlines today.) However, there is still nothing more to panic about: Delta is scary enough.
What is the difference between Delta and Delta Plus?
Delta is the most transmitted coronavirus strain and is rapidly becoming the dominant strain worldwide. It is as contagious as chickenpox and significantly more contagious than the common cold or flu . Because it is so contagious, measures that were sufficient to slow the spread of the original COVID strain did not seem to be enough to stop Delta. To defeat the more contagious virus, more people need to be vaccinated, so masks and other safety measures need to be applied more carefully.
Delta Plus is the nickname for the Delta variant with one additional mutation. According to the Washington Post, this mutation has also been found in the Alpha variant that was circulating earlier this year. In June, Reuters reported that this new mutation could make it harder for our immune systems to track and destroy the virus.
We do not yet know if vaccines against Delta Plus are less effective than against Delta. We know that a single dose of Pfizer vaccine is less effective against delta than the original COVID virus, but the double dose is still protective.
Okay, then what is Lambda?
Lambda is still classified by the World Health Organization as a “option of interest” with less concern than “options of concern” such as Delta.
It appears to be in the news this week because it is related to the Delta Plus panic, but there is nothing new or unusually worrisome about it. A recent study found that one Chinese vaccine (Sinovac / CoronaVac) may not protect well against it, but this same vaccine has already been considered less effective against some variants than vaccines currently available in the US.
Why do we constantly hear about new options?
As long as vaccination rates remain low, the virus has many opportunities to live, grow, reproduce and develop – every unvaccinated person is a potential home and playground for the virus. (At this point, most vaccinated people are still immune to the virus.)
If we managed to contain COVID-19 with masks and distancing in early 2020, it might not have had enough time or opportunity to branch out into all of these options. Likewise, if we could vaccinate more people faster – globally, not just in the US – the virus would have less room to grow.
But the nature of evolution is such that the more successful options tend to outperform their less transferable counterparts. Once Alpha was up and running, it became the dominant option; Delta is doing the same now. And as long as we give the virus many people to reproduce and the ability to travel from person to person, this will continue.
Vaccination is still our best way to build population immunity to the virus , but other measures such as camouflaging and avoiding crowds are also important. The vaccine is likely to provide more robust and lasting immunity than what you get from surviving a COVID attack, so getting vaccinated is especially important.