The latest report released by the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine has kept the health experts in the state divide over its results. The study that was released on Sunday has revealed that about 12% of people had contracted the COVID-19 viral infection despite being fully vaccinated, with two doses of vaccines. The study had showered light on the question of whether the vaccine takers become susceptible to the virus and can't they beat it by developing immunity. 

According to reports, the state had collected 1,159 samples in total from all districts between December 2020 and March 2021, and those samples were referred to the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine in Bengaluru for Whole Genome Sequencing. Of 1,159 samples, the results for 554 samples had come so far and they have shown 66 were vaccine breakthrough cases, which means that 66 people, who had taken both the doses of the vaccines, had contracted the viral infection.

Among 66, 55 (83%) were infected by the Delta Variant, which was first identified in India and has now become a global concern. The study that Covid hits the people despite the vaccination has stirred a divide between the experts with some pronouncing it as an alarming state while others say that the sample size was inadequate, making the results too early to judge and too early to arrive at any point of conclusion. 

Dr P Ganeshkumar from the National Institute of Epidemiology alarmingly said, "This (the study) highlights that we need to watch this (Delta) variant." However, on the other hand, experts say that it is too early to come to any conclusion as the sample size was inadequate. According to a news agency, a Chennai-based infectious diseases expert said that it is way too long to come to a definitive judgment with these numbers. 

Echoing his stand, Public health expert Dr K Kolandhaiswamy said that it was early to draw any conclusion from it and there was no need to worry unless the results prescribe a change in preventive methods or treatments. He further suggested that the state needs to establish its own genome sequencing labs in at least three different places amid battling the pandemic. 

On the other hand, the study from the public health department had revealed that the widespread COVID-19 infection in the state may have been caused due to the Delta variant. The study had shown that out of the 554 samples tested from December 2020 to May 2021, 386 samples were found to contain the Delta variant, that was discovered in India. While the Delta Variant had contracted 70% of all samples, the Alpha variant, which was first discovered in the United Kingdom in January this year, showed an 8.5% spread. 

Recently, the World Health Organization has categorized the Delta variant, which was first identified in India, as a Variant of Concern (VOC). The Delta variant was mostly reported among adults above 12 years of age compared to children below 12. Apart from India, the Delta variant has become a cause of fret in the United Kingdom, the United States, and several countries. It must be noted that Genome Sequencing is the process of determining the DNA sequence of an organism, that helps experts study mutations and the spread of the epidemics like COVID-19. The study had drawn major attention as the Delta variant has become a global concern with India steering towards witnessing the third wave.