-- WHO said the Delta variant is the fastest and fittest coronavirus strain that will "pick off" the most vulnerable people.
-- Many health experts said the vaccines are still effective in preventing severe illnesses and reducing deaths.
-- In fighting the pandemic, China has been keeping its word in championing international cooperation.
The highly contagious Delta COVID-19 variant has been reported in more than 90 countries and regions around the world, posing a serious threat to the global pandemic fight and highlighting the urgency to build a global immunity barrier through mass vaccination.
Facing the widespread variant, China has been sparing no effort to provide vaccines for the international community, and calling for fair and equitable distribution of and access to COVID-19 vaccines globally.
SPEED BUMP TO PANDEMIC FIGHT
First identified in India, the Delta variant is the fastest and fittest coronavirus strain that will "pick off" the most vulnerable people, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday.
It has the potential "to be more lethal because it's more efficient in the way it transmits between humans," Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, said Monday at a news conference.
According to British officials, Delta is 60 percent more infectious than Alpha, the variant first detected in Britain. The Delta variant is now responsible for nearly all of the new COVID-19 cases in Britain, according to research by Public Health England (PHE).
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a four-week delay to the final step of England's roadmap out of COVID-19 restrictions until July 19, amid a surge in Delta cases.
In the United States, Delta is now responsible for about one in every five COVID-19 cases, and its prevalence has doubled in the last two weeks, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.
The country's top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, warned at a White House briefing on the same day that Delta is now the greatest threat to eradicate COVID-19 in the country's borders.
Delta has also paused the planned relaxation of lockdown restrictions in India, Russia, Thailand and many other countries, with global public health experts keeping tabs on potential additional mutations to the virus.
