Taking into account the rising global concerns towards the Delta variant, our government is now looking at the possibility of including a third 'booster' vaccine shot for Malaysians.

According to a report by Astro Awani, the National COVID-19 Immunization Program Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin confirmed that a third dose of the vaccine or a booster shot was being discussed.

"We want to get better data on how long the current vaccine protection lasts and further data on a third vaccine dose," he said.

He added that a data study was needed for the country to determine if more vaccines should be procured for next year.

Taking the example of the current situation in the United Kingdom, Khairy explained that 90 per cent of new COVID-19 infections there were currently due to the Delta variant.

He added that the matter was discussed at the Special Committee on COVID-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) last Thursday.

The Delta variant threat

According to a report by The Guardian, the Delta variant, also known as B.1.617.2, was first detected in India when the country had an aggressive wave of infections a few months ago.

The Delta variant, is the dominant variant in many countries now and is said to be 60% more transmissible than the Alpha variant of COVID-19, which first affected the world.

What's more concerning is that the Delta variant has also shown signs of partial resistance towards vaccines, especially for people who have only received a single dose.

According to Nature.com, evidence following studies in England and Scotland also showed that those infected with the Delta variant are twice as likely to end up hospitalised (as compared with those infected with the Alpha variant).

The Delta variant does sound extremely threatening.