Covid, Pregliasco: “Worse variant of Delta? Is it possible”

“A worse variant of the Delta is possible. This virus has shown us that it has a faster ability than others to find variants so this input is welcome to watch out for other variants.” So at Adnkronos Salute the virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco, professor of Hygiene at the State University of Milan, commenting on the alarm raised by Anthony Fauci, consultant immunologist to the president of the United States Joe Biden. “Worse variants mean variants capable of evading vaccines. We already have Epsilon – recalls the virologist – but it does not seem to be a very contagious variant, but it is already worse than Delta”. GREEN PASS – “Well the Green pass” for extra-regional long-distance transport, “is an element that is really necessary at this point” says Pregliasco, on what was announced during the question time in the Chamber by the Minister of Regional Affairs and Autonomies, Mariastella Gelmini. However, local public transport, which is usually more crowded, should remain outside. Does this make sense? “Surely on buses and metro it is not easy to do it from the point of view of operations – says the virologist – so it becomes incongruous to establish a ban when you are unable to operationally implement a control. It also becomes something that diminishes its value”. SCHOOL – Then school. “The obligation of Green Pass for school staff is right, because” these operators “have two elements that make them look like doctors: an additional personal risk compared to the general population (especially primary school teachers who have to deal with children who still cannot be vaccinated), and then the guarantee of continuity of service. This – he underlines – is the point that in my opinion makes this choice of mandatory Green pass necessary in public contexts “. “I believe – he adds – that it is an important element to increase the quota of vaccinated people, which is the thing that interests us at the moment”. QUARANTINE – According to Pregliasco, the shorter quarantine for vaccinated people is “corrected” against Covid-19 who come into contact with a positive Sars-CoV-2 infection. The virologist comments on the news anticipated by the Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, which reduces the period of isolation from 10 to 7 days for the immunized, compared to the unvaccinated. “However, it takes only 7 days – agrees the expert – because unfortunately at this time we do not yet have complete knowledge of the vaccine’s effectiveness on the Delta variant, and therefore in my opinion quarantine is necessary”.