NIH director says no anxiety yet about vaccines not protecting against Delta, other variants

Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, said Sunday that federal health officials are keeping a close eye on Delta and other coronavirus variants, such as Lambda, but as of right now there aren't major worries about any of them rendering the available COVID-19 vaccines ineffective.
"At NIH, working with [the Food and Drug Administration] and [the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], we have a very vigorous team that looks at every new emerging variant to see what would its effect be in terms of the vaccine, will the vaccine work against this one," Collins told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on Sunday's edition of This Week. "So far, so good. We don't have anxieties yet about Delta or Lambda or any of the others that are sort of lurking out there."
That doesn't mean they're letting their guard down, though. Collins said "we all worry about the day" that a new variant emerges that is so different from the original strain of the coronavirus that sparked an outbreak in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 that it could prove resistant to vaccines, forcing a need for widespread booster shots. But the best way to avoid that, Collins explained, is to reduce the number of infections right now.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
August 31 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include FEMA's new scheme, Gavin Newsom's antics, and a clue in the Epstein files
-
Disarming Hezbollah: Lebanon's risky mission
Talking Point Iran-backed militia has brought 'nothing but war, division and misery', but rooting them out for good is a daunting and dangerous task
-
Woof! Britain's love affair with dogs
The Explainer The UK's canine population is booming. What does that mean for man's best friend?
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreak
Speed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agency
Speed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year high
Speed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, change
Speed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panel
speed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kids
Speed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sick
speed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last year
speed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC