Things are gradually getting back to “normal” in the US, although there are so many who never took social distancing and masking seriously and are just continuing as usual. The more people catch coronavirus, the more it has a chance to mutate and become deadlier. Unfortunately there’s a new mutation of COVID-19 which current vaccines are less effective against. The Delta variant originated in India, where they’re experiencing massive outbreaks due to lack of vaccinations. It’s now spreading in the UK among unvaccinated young people and accounts for about 6% of the cases in the US. The UK has a vaccination rate of around 77% for the first dose for adults. However they just opened up vaccinations to 25 and older. Dr. Fauci has been warning Americans about this variant and the need to get vaccinated:
Just three weeks ago, Great Britain celebrated the success of its vaccination campaign by lifting many coronavirus-related restrictions. “Goodbye, lockdown,” one headline said. But since then, a more transmissible new strain of the coronavirus has taken hold, imperiling plans to fully reopen the country on June 21.
Public health officials in the United States are now grappling with the possibility that a similar regression could take place here and, just as in the U.K., place in jeopardy the end of the pandemic that many had foreseen for this summer.
The potent new variant, known as Delta or B.1.617, emerged in India during that country’s recent coronavirus surge. According to British Health Secretary Matt Hancock, it is around 40 percent more transmissible than the original strain, or wild type, that first appeared in 2019. While several coronavirus variants have appeared since the start of the pandemic, epidemiologists worry that mutation could create a strain that evades vaccines.
Dr. Eric Topol, founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, called the Delta variant “the worst we’ve seen so far.”
The Delta variant accounts for only about 6 percent of cases in the United States, according to genomic sequencing studies. But that could change rapidly, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top public health adviser to President Biden, warned during a Tuesday briefing of the White House pandemic response team.
“We cannot let that happen in the United States,” Fauci said, describing the scenario in the U.K. as a “powerful argument” for vaccination. Biden has set the goal of inoculating 70 percent of American adults by the July 4 weekend. Although the nation has now surpassed 300 million doses of coronavirus vaccine administered, the effort has recently slowed.
According to Yahoo! News, the first doses of the Pfizer and Astrazeneca vaccine (which is available in Europe) are just 33% effective against this variant. The second dose of Pfizer is 88% effective and the second dose of Astrazeneca raises it to 60%. This is significantly less than the 95% effectiveness of two doses of Pfizer against the original coronavirus. There’s no word on Moderna or Johnson and Johnson’s effectiveness.
It seems that those of us who are vaccinated will be relatively safe against this variant, but it’s hard to tell and I don’t want to take my chances. I’m going to continue to wear a mask no matter what the CDC says. We’ve seen over and over again this past year that people are not to be trusted. We’ve also seen how ingenious and effective science can be. I trust the scientists to come up with effective booster shots against these new strains as well.
Photos credit: Helena Lopez on Pexels, Getty and Avalon.red
Sometimes I feel like I’m crazy for still living very similarly to how I did early in the pandemic. And then I read this stuff and I know I’m making the right choice, even if I seem like a shut-in to those who have been living it up.
Drove an hour and a half each way, twice, to get my shots – only to discover that the medicine I take makes the vaccine useless. I haven’t developed any antibodies. Not one.
So please, wear a mask, wash your hands, social distance. We are not done with this virus yet. Not by a long shot.
Which class of medications does that (if you don’t mind sharing)? I’ve been googling it, and so far I see only that steroids and anti-inflammatories “may” impact the vaccine’s results.
@peacefulparsley – immunosuppressants – like chemotherapy. In my case methotrexate which is used to treat a lot of immuno-compromising diseases as well as cancers.
If you want to be tested for antibodies your doctor can do a blood test – but avoid the finger stick test some quick clinics are doing as those are not the right test for this.
That’s why we must get our vaccines – not only to protect me but to protect you and others like you.
antibodies are only one factor in immune response. there is a large scale study going on right now with people vaccinated early looking at antibodies vs outcomes.
do not lose hope that doing the work to get the vaccine was pointless. this is a new disease and we are learning every day.
@moo – thank you.
A LOT of us are still living similarly.
Fun fact, there were just over 1,016 flu cases reported in the US in 2020 compared to 65,000 in 2019. Meanwhile, there were tens of millions of Covid cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths.
This virus was hell on wheels in its ‘mild’ form and is exponentially worse now. Lord knows what is waiting for us as it continues to spread and mutate.
I’m so happy to be vaccinated and it does take a lot of worry away but I’m absolutely continuing to wear my mask, avoid crowds, and religiously wash my hands.
We were starting to feel more comfortable but with the removal of the mask mandates and now the variants I’m starting to feel nervous again. I’m still wearing my masks indoors.
I am not ready to enter society yet. People are disgusting, and and we don’t know who is vaccinated. I am still staying close to home for the most part.
I actually miss lockdown. The shootings every day are enough to make me miss it.
My husband just attended a wake for a coworkers husband who died in his early 60’s and my Dad and his wife both have COVID right now (she’s in the hospital at 60 years old). All were / are unvaccinated by choice. It’s not over. It just isn’t. I guess 400 to 500 deaths daily in the U.S. (a 9/11 every week) is acceptable now? Got an email from a friend(ish) who sells essential oils who told me that putting a mask on my child was dangerous because of black mold and that people are dying from car accidents caused by masks (were they wearing them on their eyeballs???)…I don’t know what to even say to that. Yeah, I’m still wearing my mask.
I hope he and his family have good security. Candace Owens is using very inflammatory and personally directed language against Dr. Fauci. I can see some rabid Q person(s) doing something awful in response to her thinly veiled dog whistles.
Really glad the CDC suddenly lifted the mask mandate/recommendation with no warning last month with no consideration of children, immune compromised people, anti-masker MAGAs that lie, and all the variants.
The CDC flip flops and goes whatever way the wind blows. I don’t trust a word they say and haven’t from the beginning when they said masks were not effective. That was red flag #1 and in direct opposition to what they were doing in China. Literally everyone had masks there from the beginning.
To be fair, wearing masks was pretty common in China before the COVID pandemic. You also have to consider who had their tiny orange fingers on the scale when the CDC stated that masks didn’t work, and that changing information in light of new data is something that you’d hope the Centers for Disease Control would do.
I agree, we needed a more gradual lifting of restrictions, not this sudden woohoo! take it off!
I’m back at work face to face with toddlers in my preschool (speech path) and I don’t want to be told that I shouldn’t mask! I have a good one with a plastic piece over the mouth area so they can see oral movements if necessary. I’m in NY state and mask restrictions have not been lifted for schools yet, except for outdoor activities. I’m guessing that summer school will be different.
India’s numbers of new cases are falling dramatically since they started vaccinating aggressively. That’s reassuring but as someone who is pretty medically fragile I wish we hadn’t dropped the mask mandates so quickly here.
I’m interested to know what proportion of Indian residents have contracted Covid – either the Kent variant, or Delta, or the original strain. That may be behind the numbers dropping…..so many people have already been infected.
Are you implying that this is a herd immunity situation? If yes, you need to stop. It is irresponsible and flat out wrong.
India has a population of 1.36 billion and 29.1 million documented Covid cases. In late January, it started the world’s most vigorous vaccination campaign and 234 million vaccine doses have now been administered. Unfortunately, it didn’t come in time to stop the massive spike from the Delta variant. The massive drop in cases and deaths we are seeing now can clearly be tied to the the rigorous vaccine program.
@ Mich, thank you!! The last thing we need is someone commenting on something that they know nothing about. The fact that there is a new variant is a warning shot and the US is vey far behind reaching nerd immunity. I am unfortunately here in Texas where, as usual, Abbot the Idiot is making the coronavirus extremely difficult by lifting restrictions and now imposing that companies are not allowed to ask for proof of vaccination as they could lose contracts with the state AND potentially have their permits/licenses revoked!!
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/07/texas-vaccine-passports-covid-19/
As a state, Texas is well below the necessary steps to develop herd immunity and the more I see people pushing against CDC guidelines and the abhorrent actions and refusal to get vaccinated has me angered beyond belief!! I have already decided that I will wear a mask well into next year and possibly the following year. The fact that so many people are ignorant and refuse to believe and support the science, increases the chance of this new variant taking hold in the US. Make no mistake about it, no one is immune to any variants and even if you are vaccinated, you still run the risk of contracting the coronavirus and spreading it amongst others.
Stop questioning those who have dedicated their lives in protecting YOU!! Until you have the same or better qualifications, then STFU and sit down!!
My takeaway is that with two doses of Moderna or Pfizer we should be fine. This variant is more contagious and potentially more harmful for those who are NOT vaccinated.
It sucks that people are still behaving so recklessly and have allowed this virus to mutate so many times and hinder the hard work of researchers and health officials. I’m getting my first dose on the 25th of this month and I’m currently in talks with a company for a job contract, but knowing that the first dose offers so little protection against this variant is it even worth it? I would have to move abroad for this new job and I’m just not sure about at this point with this pandemic.
Dangerous variants will continue to spread as long as the majority of the world stays unvaccinated. There are doctors and nursers in Nigeria who are still waiting to get their first shot while places like Canada and America are vaccinating 12 year olds. What will happen is those countries will create variants which will reach our shores and the circle continues. We have to help countries get vaccines…we have to make it more equitable.
Here’s some information on the 80 million doses that the US is sending abroad – it was announced late last week.
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/03/1002888711/the-u-s-is-sending-at-least-80-million-surplus-covid-19-vaccines-abroad
That’s awesome ! Thanks for the link.
I’m slowly getting used to not needing a mask on all the time, but I still choose to wear one when I’m shopping or around people that I don’t know. I was alarmed at the volume of people not masked up at our Home Depot last weekend – and it’s always packed there. It just made me uncomfortable. I’m fully vaccinated…but I don’t know if you are! I have mixed feelings about the mask wearing at this point in the pandemic, but I am personally still choosing to do it.
I agree with the others that are saying that it’s just too soon. PS – Dr. Fauci and I live in the same county.
I switched back to my fugly Kn95 masks, so I’ve actually increased my protection, even though I am fully Pfizer vaxxed. I know most of the asshats not wearing masks in Costco, Stop and Shop, and my nail place are unvaxxed. I live in the Alabama of NY, Suffolk County LI. The only thing I do differently is I do go out to see live music and eat and drink while I’m there. If this thing keeps spreading though, I will have to cut that out too, and that will be a real shame. These anti-vax morons ruin everything for everyone.
Haha. Suffolk – Alabama? I grew up in A VERY rural area of the Southern Tier… now THAT’S the Alabama of NY. But I used to work for a State Rep from Suffolk Co…. so I totally get what your referring to.
LOl. So many Trumpsters here, but yeah, I know some of the rural areas are worse.
I’m in Allegany County – lowest vac rate in the state, under 30% 😩
So, When the vaccine first came out, I was told to hold off due to my health issues. I’ve since been given conflicting advice about getting it. Mostly either don’t or just get the 1st shot to give you some immunity because the shot isn’t going to kill you. Just probably trigger huge problems for an indeterminate amount of time. It’s lead to a lot of anxiety (something that triggers my health issues anyway). I’d really appreciate it if the CDC would remember that people like me exist. It’s like they treat all adults as if they are either vaccinated or anti-vaxxers. I’d love to get the vaccine and I’ll get it as soon as I can safely do so.
In the meantime, vaccine passports would solve an insane amount of problems. We already require proof of vaccination in other areas. At my mom’s job, you can be fired for not getting the flu vaccine, but several people were allowed to opt out of the Covid-19 vaccine. It’s ridiculous!! No one should be forced to get a vaccine, but they should be forced to accept consequences for their choices.
I get why people are scared to enforce such things though. It used to be that the snowflakes were merely armed with whining on the internet. Now they’re literally armed and holding everyone’s freedom hostage because they’re in a cult that says it’s the mark of the beast.
Btw the mark of the beast is literally money. And the beast was the Emperor Nero. Revelations already happened. Stupid anti-intellectual evangelicals need to learn to read. It’s only hard if you read it with zero context. Sry for the rant but a random person brought it up to me yesterday and I know better than to argue, but ugh.
I really appreciate everyone getting vaccinated.
I’m a travel advisor and was extremely disappointed that some cruise lines have cowed to FL Governor and decided not to require vaccines to fail. I won’t even recommend a cruise to a client until 2022. Back in my house I go smh
The variant isn’t new. There were reports that it was spreading here in the US(there were 5 cases at the time) when the CDC and Walensky decided that it was a good idea to lift mask mandates for vaccinated people. They knew and they didn’t care because they were too busy trying to appease Fox and it’s hosts, Rand Paul, and Jim Jordan who were ranting about how wearing masks was infringing on their freedom.
The issue of the vaccine not covering the variants should have been a question that Walensky and the CDC asked a long time ago when they were trying to explain away why people were getting infected even though they had received the vaccine.
Everyone said that Walensky was good at her job, but so far all she has demonstrated is that nothing coming out of the CDC can be trusted. These issues that Fauci is bringing up now, should have been addressed a long time ago. The cases of Covid are not decreasing, what has significantly been reduced is the testing. I hope that the CDC and Walensky has a plan for this fall and winter just in case hospitals become overwhelmed because they declared victory over Covid way too early.
The CDC hasn’t even addressed how Florida and Texas were purposely underreporting their cases and deaths.
@ why?, as Texas resident I can attest as to the incompetence in Texas and the Repugnant’s legislature going on here. Abbot The Idiot and his sidekick Patrick is nothing more than incompetence and truly an absolute definition of criminal actions.
We also have Patrick again facing allegations of abuse of office in favor of an Austin developer, again!!
My main concern with this variant are all the school age children who aren’t vaccinated, as schools will be fully operational in the fall. Luckily my middle schooler will be getting her second shot this week, but my elementary school child is completely vulnerable. We had our first vacation since the pandemic and luckily most people still had on their masks, but this worries me.
This is my concern too, our idiot school board says they are not requiring masks for kids ages 4 to 8 this August when they return to school. It’s crazy to leave the ones that cannot get the vaccines into sitting ducks..
I still live like there’s a pandemic. In fact, I lived like there was a pandemic before there was a pandemic (except for masks lol). I can’t remember the last time I saw a movie in a theater. Our tvs are HUGE! Surround sound. Kitchen and bathroom. A pause button!
And this past year highlighted the proliferation of ignorance. I mean, come. On. Ignore the scientists. Ruin their lives even and all the lives in their orbit. But tell everyone the election was rigged and that Antifa stormed the Capital and that liberals eat stolen children.
I continue to distance, sanitize, stay away from large crowds and wear a mask – and I am vaccinated. If anything this give me an excuse not to attend some weddings this year and to stay away from people I have learned really annoy me.
I’m still wearing my mask no matter what. Plus there is also a variant called “Alpha” that is supposed to be potent and dangerous too. We can’t wish this this thing away no matter how hard we try.
I am still wearing my mask indoors when I go out, and I don’t see myself changing that behavior any time soon.
And this is why I’m still wearing a mask even though I’m vaccinated. The CDC made a huge error in judgement by lifting that.
Mom and I are both completely vaccinated, but we wear masks in places where there a lot of people inside and take them off only if we’re eating. Viruses like to mutate and we don’t want to give it a chance to get us.