Staying Safe, Sane, And Sober Despite The Delta Variant
Maybe you did everything right. When COVID-19 first appeared on the scene last March, you dutifully retreated to your residence for “two weeks to stop the spread.” When that failed to flatten the curve, maybe you stayed at home as much as possible during the long months to follow for hour after hour of endless […]
Maybe you did everything right. When COVID-19 first appeared on the scene last March, you dutifully retreated to your residence for “two weeks to stop the spread.” When that failed to flatten the curve, maybe you stayed at home as much as possible during the long months to follow for hour after hour of endless quarantine, unless your status as an essential worker dictated that, in order to stay employed, you had to face the risk of infection day-in and day-out, with all the terror that that entailed. Then, maybe, as soon as they became available for your age group, you got your trusty vaccine and waited the prescribed two weeks after your second shot to start socializing in-person again, relieved that, after all this time, things were finally getting back to normal. And maybe you were finally beginning to relax into that new normal when the Delta variant reared its head to threaten, basically, all of it.
The Delta Variant
The Delta variant of the coronavirus was first detected in India in December and then tore through much of Great Britain. It had migrated to the United States by March, where it slowly became dominant over the original version of the coronavirus that was responsible for the pandemic’s first few waves. Now, over 80 percent of current infections in the country are thought to be caused by this dangerous variant. It is more than twice as contagious as the original strain, and also seems to be at least somewhat deadlier. The delta variant has also made it apparent that the much-awaited COVID vaccine does not offer the airtight protection against the virus that many initially assumed that it would. The exact percentages of its efficacy have been hard to nail down due to demographic confounds. But breakthrough cases are clearly prevalent enough to be cause for serious safety concerns.The good news, though, is that being vaccinated still seems to offer considerable protection against even this new variant. It will vastly reduce your chance of winding up with severe disease or dying from a COVID-19 infection even if you do contract a “breakthrough case” of the virus. A recent New York Times analysis suggests that fully vaccinated people may make up as few as .1 percent of those who have been hospitalized for severe COVID-19. Even a more pessimistic estimate still puts the figure at less than five percent. Similarly, cases among vaccinated people seem to account for as few as .2 percent of deaths from the virus. The milder nature of infections that “break through” the barrier of vaccination may also contribute to the slightly different symptom profile that the delta variant has compared to classic COVID. Runny noses, headaches, and sore throats are now more common, while fever, cough, and loss of taste or smell are now less prevalent.But data also suggests that the Delta variant still poses a serious risk to those who are elderly, immunocompromised, or have severe underlying conditions even if they are vaccinated. And unvaccinated people are at more risk than ever given the delta variants’ extreme contagion. This unvaccinated group includes all children under twelve years old. Though they still appear to be at relatively low risk of COVID’s most severe outcomes, they are entirely unprotected due to the fact that the vaccine has not yet been approved for use in their age group.It has also been found that vaccinated people who suffer breakthrough infections can still transmit COVID-19 to others, though they do appear to be contagious for a shorter period of time. Thus, the risk of a vaccinated person spreading COVID-19 to a population that includes a large amount of unvaccinated people is high enough to demand that the utmost precautions be taken to avoid unnecessary outbreaks. But in areas of high transmission, such outbreaks are already creating a serious strain on our medical system and have resulted in a heartbreaking amount of potentially avoidable casualties.In accordance, the CDC has changed its guidelines and is once more recommending that even vaccinated people wear masks indoors in areas of “high or substantial transmission.” Reopenings or return-to-office dates that were scheduled for many businesses during our brief period of COVID optimism have been pushed back, cultural events like concerts have been postponed or canceled, and life continues to be lived with a much different character than it was during our pre-pandemic days. Here in Florida, things are looking particularly gruesome, with our current outbreak resulting in higher numbers of COVID cases than there were even during our areas’ previous peaks and Palm Beach County having declared a “state of emergency” in accordance with these alarming numbers. In fact, matters are so severe in South Florida that medical professionals recently staged a symbolic walkout to protest the part that low vaccination rates played in inviting this insane state of affairs.Hopefully, if you are not yet fully vaccinated, the gravity of what is now going on is leading you to question your decision not to receive the shot. There are plenty of trusty resources to turn to if you are seeking reassurance that the vaccine is indeed as safe and effective as it appears.
