Short of going into complete isolation, the best defense against the COVID-19 Delta variant is vaccination. United States health officials warn of a resurgence of infections in regions with low vaccination rates — they are especially concerned about the Delta variant, which officially became the dominant strain in July 2021.

The Delta variant, also known as B.1.617.2, is highly infectious and spreads faster than the original COVID-19 strain in the United States in early 2020. This adds to the concern about low vaccination rates in states primarily in Southern, Midwestern, and Mountain regions.

States with more than half of their population vaccinated reported an average of  2.8 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people daily for the last seven days. In contrast, states with less than half of their residents averaged 7.8 cases per 100,000 people in the same time period.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reports that more than 99 percent of COVID-19 deaths in June were unvaccinated people across the United States.

In some regions in the U.S., health officials report the Delta strain accounts for more than 80 percent of new COVID-19 cases in some Midwestern states. The variant is causing 74.3 percent of infections, and in Southern states, the new case rate is 58. 8 percent.

The evidence seems to clearly indicate that vaccinated people are equipped to fight off the Delta variant. And since the COVID-19 vaccines are free to everyone 12 and over in the United States regardless of their insurance or immigration status. When every eligible person is vaccinated, then there will be a far smaller chance that children under 12 will be less likely to become infected and possibly die from COVID-19.

The only way to beat the virus back is to increase the COVID-19 vaccination rates. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Control, told CBS “The Morning” viewers:

We really need to get more people vaccianted because that’s the solution.

Written by Cathy Milne-Ware

Sources:

The Hill: Risks rise as vaccination gap with Trump counties grows wider; by Nathaniel Weixel
NPR: Delta Is Now The Dominant Coronavirus Variant In The U.S.; by Jane Greenhalgh and Rob Stein
WebMD: What You Need to Know About the Delta Variant; by Carolyn Crist

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of NIAID’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Raed Mansour’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License