The delta variant of COVID-19 has been spread already across the 50 states, including Washington DC, with South Dakota being the last state to confirm the first transmission. Alongside the highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus, the United States' medical authorities and state officials are doing everything they can to prevent the impending wave of the virus in a new, more contagious version.
United States Affected by Coronavirus Delta Variant, Experts Advices COVID-19 Vaccine for Protection
Anthony Fauci expresses his concern about the huge gap of records between the vaccinated vs non-vaccinated population. The doctor worries that the stronger variant of COVID-19 may divide North America into two sets of regions and fears that a huge infected rate might spike if under-vaccinated regions will not take action against the virus.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Center CDC expert Rochelle Walensky said that there are numerous admissions of the younger population due to COVID-19, but despite the increase in hospitalization, they are still pushing the vaccine to be taken by the population group of ages 18-24, reports CNN.
300 people die from COVID-19 daily, and with the addition of the delta variant, experts are concerned about the US citizens' state of health on a national scale. The rates might spike, especially in small sections of the country, said US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.
Murthy added that the increased rates of virus-infected people might shove health security on the edge if we let our guard down. The virus has already tested our resilience, and it had fooled us several times before, he added. Like Murthy, other experts are recommending having the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible to protect ourselves against the delta variant and ease the pandemic, reports The Hill.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's immunology professor and coronavirus expert Andrew Pekosz said that when a virus evolves over time, it improves at its transmitting process. If this happens, people need to be vaccinated right away to match the capabilities of the new variant and establish herd immunity. Unfortunately, the effects of herd immunity are not yet felt as there are low records of vaccination across the country, he added.
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Delta Variant Impact on Herd Immunity, Face Mask, and COVID-19 Vaccine
Herd immunity is a region or a community that is totally immune to a certain disease, which in this case is the coronavirus. Herd immunity makes a disease little to zero chances of spreading from person to person. In simple terms, herd immunity keeps not only the immune population but the entire community protected.
The mask protocols against COVID-19 will still be the same in most places amidst the spike of the delta variant. Fauci already stated that CDC recommendations allow fully vaccinated people to take off their masks both outdoors and indoors. Walensky adds that fully vaccinated individuals could take off their masks as they celebrate July Fourth and see the smile of others.
Meanwhile, people who are not eligible to take the vaccine, most importantly children aged 12 and below, are still required to wear a mask indoors until the new coronavirus delta variant cases ease down, said National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine's dean Peter Hotez. In addition, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine's second dose is already at 88 percent effective against the delta variant's asymptomatic infections, Nature reports.
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