the delta variant has been spreading around the world, and according to the latest b.c. centre for disease control information, as of july 17, accounted for more than 40 per cent of new cases in british columbia.
the delta variant is the dominant strain in many countries, including the u.s., the u.k., india, indonesia, russia and australia.
conway said the percentage of delta variant cases in b.c. is likely already higher than 40 per cent.
published last week, the new england journal of medicine study found that two doses of pfizer was 88 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic disease from the delta variant, compared to 93.7 per cent against the alpha variant.
public health officials in england had earlier said that a first dose of the pfizer vaccine was around 33 per cent effective against symptomatic disease from the delta variant.
in b.c., as the percentage of the population rapidly got vaccinated starting in the spring, daily covid-19 cases and hospitalizations plummeted.
however, in the past several weeks, cases have been easing upward again. on friday, 112 cases were reported in the previous 24 hours, the highest daily case count reported since mid-june, with four additional deaths.