'Get vaccinated. This is an epidemic of the unvaccinated' - Delta variant makes up 80% of US cases

Record ID: 1627820

  • Title: 'Get vaccinated. This is an epidemic of the unvaccinated' - Delta variant makes up 80% of US cases
  • Date: 21st July 2021
  • Summary: VALLEY STREAM, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - DECEMBER 21, 2020) (REUTERS) MODERNA COVID-19 VACCINE VIAL ON TABLE BAY SHORE, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - MARCH 3, 2021) (REUTERS) JOHNSON & JOHNSON COVID-19 VACCINE VIAL / BOX
  • Embargoed: 4th August 2021 20:38
  • Keywords: COVID-19 Delta variant Dr. Peter Hotez coronavirus vaccinated vaccine
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  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Health/Medicine,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA009EMS87K7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The Delta variant of the coronavirus is the cause of more than 80% of new U.S. COVID-19 cases, but the authorized vaccines remain more than 90% effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths, according to top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci.
    "The tragedy is, almost everyone who's in a hospital right now from COVID is there by choice," said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. "They could have opted to vaccinate. And I think that's extremely frustrating."
    The more contagious Delta variant was first found in India earlier this year. It has since become the dominant version of the virus in the United States and many other countries. It has been detected in more than 90 nations worldwide.
    "If you're unvaccinated, you need to get vaccinated," said Hotez. "That's got to be your number one priority. Getting those virus neutralizing antibodies on board are going to keep you out of the hospital. Certainly, if you're unvaccinated, you have to wear a mask at all times in public when you're indoors or in crowded outdoor settings. But I would say for now, the same with vaccinated individuals. You may have to re-don masks until we can sort out the level of virus transmission going on."
    Deaths from COVID-19 in the United States have averaged 239 per day over the past week, nearly 48% higher than the previous week, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said.
    "As Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director has said, 'This is an epidemic of the unvaccinated,'" said Hotez. "The problem is this, even though the vaccines, if you're fully immunized, seem to be holding up very well against symptomatic illness, moderate and severe illness and keeping people out of the hospital, the hope was based on original lineages that these vaccines would also halt asymptomatic transmission to other people. And now that's been put into question because of the higher amounts of virus in the upper airways."
    The rise of the Delta variant has raised concerns over whether currently available vaccines offer enough protection. Several experts say a booster shot would be warranted if there is a substantial increase in hospitalizations or deaths among vaccinated people.
    Hotez said it was something to be aware of, especially for fully vaccinated parents of small children because "they could still be shedding virus to infect their children. And so that's one of the big unknowns. And therefore, I think we're going to have to look into whether a third immunization of the mRNA vaccines becomes warranted on that basis or a second dose of the J&J vaccine."
    Hotez also said that if there are breakthrough cases -- infections of fully vaccinated people -- for the fully vaccinated, "they should not be common and almost all of them will be asymptomatic or mild. The unknown is whether these individuals who are vaccinated could still serve as reservoirs of virus transmission because in the past they weren't."
    (Production: Roselle Chen)
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