The Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, that causes COVID-19, is unable to evade the antibodies generated by vaccination, according to a lab study. The findings, published in the journal Immunity, help explain why vaccinated people have largely escaped the worst of the Delta surge.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in the US analysed a panel of antibodies generated by people in response to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and found that Delta was unable to evade all but one of the antibodies they tested. Other variants of concern, such as Beta, avoided recognition and neutralisation by several of the antibodies, they said.