“Respect your fellow human being, treat them fairly, disagree with them honestly, enjoy their friendship, explore your thoughts about one another candidly, work together for a common goal and help one another achieve it.” Bill Bradley American Hall of Fame Basketball Player and Rhodes Scholar
As of Friday July 9,2021, 48.5% of the total US population was fully vaccinated. 50.4% of Pennsylvanians are fully vaccinated according to federal data. In the US there are currently 34,711,770 positive cases and 622,715 deaths. The majority of new deaths are happening in the younger unvaccinated population and are a result of the more contagious Delta Variant.
After months of data collection, scientists agree: The Delta variant is the most contagious version of the coronavirus to date worldwide. It spreads about 225% faster than the original version of the virus, and it's currently dominating the outbreak in the United States. A new study, published online Wednesday, sheds light on why. It finds that the variant grows more rapidly inside people's respiratory tracts and to much higher levels. On average, people infected with the Delta variant had about 1,000 times more copies of the virus in their respiratory tracts than those infected with the original strain of the coronavirus,
Almost all recent COVID-19 deaths in the US were among unvaccinated people, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People who have not been vaccinated "remain susceptible, especially from the more transmissible Delta variant, and are particularly at risk for severe illness and death," says Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC.
"Preliminary data from several states over the last few months suggest that 99.5% of deaths from COVID-19 in the United States were in unvaccinated people," Walensky said.
While the world reels under the effects of the Delta variant, a new Covid-19 mutation is now on the radar of several countries. The Lambda variant, or C.37, believed to have originated from Peru, was designated as a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization (WHO) on June 14. A variant of interest categorization is a level below the “variant of concern.” More about the Lambda variant next week.
How Long Can The Pfizer And Moderna Vaccines Last: The short answer is that nobody knows for sure how long the vaccine's protection lasts. "We can only say that a vaccine is protective as long as we are measuring it." Dr. Jaimie Meyer, M.D., M.S an infectious disease specialist with Yale. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that Moderna lasts at least six months, a lifespan matched by Pfizer's vaccine. Both are mRNA vaccines. The mRNA vaccines introduce a piece of the virus' protein, that piece of protein is one of the external protrusions on the virus known as spike protein, which then teaches our cells to make the same protein. Once our body makes a copy of that protein, our immune system recognizes that it isn't natural to our bodies and kills it, thereby learning how to fight off the virus the original protein piece belonged to.
Here are five frequently asked questions and answers about the Delta variant:
1.How widespread is it? The variant was first discovered in the U.S. in March and has spread quickly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates the variant accounts for about 25 percent of all infections. By comparison, the variant accounted for fewer than 10 percent of cases in early June.
2. Who is most at risk of infection? The Delta variant is believed to spread much more easily than both the original strain and the alpha variant of the virus. The people at highest risk of infection are the adults who are not vaccinated, and children who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated. The risk of serious illness from the delta variant is likely higher for unvaccinated adults, but experts are still concerned that children are at risk.
3. Do the J&J, Moderna and Pfizer vaccines work against it? All three vaccines currently authorized for use in the U.S. have shown protection against both symptomatic disease and hospitalization from the Delta variant, though at slightly reduced levels than against the original variant. For vaccines that require two doses, Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna in the U.S, studies have shown both doses are needed to provide the full benefit. One dose of either will not work.
4. Will I need a booster to protect against the variant? The strong results from the Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna vaccines seem to indicate that a booster won't be needed, at least to protect against the Delta variant. Both Pfizer and Moderna are working on boosters. Future mutations may prove more elusive. The full picture on J&J is still a bit murky. The J&J vaccine is very similar to the one manufactured by AstraZeneca, which proved only about 60 percent effective against the Delta variant.
5.Do I need to wear a mask? The COVID-19 vaccines will never be perfect; fully vaccinated people can still get infected, breakthrough infections, though they’re much less likely to be hospitalized or die from the disease. Yet, the Delta variant first discovered in India has some experts concerned. In the US, the Delta variant has now been detected in all 50 states and Washington, DC and has spread to about 100 countries. The CDC also reported on Thursday that cases rose 10 percent this week due to a combination of lagging vaccinations in parts of the country and the more transmissible mutation, which is likely to become the country’s dominant strain in the coming weeks and into the fall. The World Health Organization suggested on Friday that fully vaccinated people still wear face masks whenever possible, citing the Delta variant’s increased transmissibility and risk of serious COVID-19 across the globe.
Many health experts outside the CDC and WHO seem to agree with erring on the side of caution.
“I personally think this is very wise advice. The Delta Variant is enormously contagious with even fleeting exposure of just seconds. This indicates clearly fast airborne transmission,” says Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist, health economist and senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, D.C.
Health officials at the state and federal level are grappling with how best to combat the spread of the Delta variant, especially with vaccination rates that vary substantially across different areas of the country. In those areas with high transmission, experts have suggested wearing a mask indoors even if you’re vaccinated. There likely won't be a political appetite to mandate mask wearing for everyone, at least on the federal level. But there are signs the rules will vary on the local level.
Spread of the Delta variant may make it even harder to reach herd immunity, experts say: With so many areas in the United States with low vaccination rates, the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus will make it that much harder for the country to reach herd immunity, a top expert says.
"We don't exactly know what the herd immunity percentage would be for Covid-19. It would be different for the Delta variant, and higher, because it is more transmissible," says Dr. Rachel Levine of the CDC. Herd immunity is the point where a virus can no longer infect people because enough people already have it or are vaccinated against it.
Estimates vary on how much of the population needs to have immunity to reach that goal. Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said herd immunity might be reached if 70-85% of people are immune. Currently we area at 48.5% fully vaccinated in the U.S. according to John Hopkins.
Why does Long COVID last for so long, leaving long-haulers with symptoms that persist for months after initial infection? New evidence suggests the enduring imprint of COVID-19 could be due to the virus making significant alterations to people's blood – yielding lasting changes to blood cells that are still evident several months after infection is diagnosed. "We were able to detect clear and long-lasting changes in the cells – both during an acute infection and even afterwards," explains biophysicist Jochen Guck. In a new study, Guck and fellow researchers analyzed patients' blood using a system developed in-house, called real-time deformability cytometry (RT-DC), which is capable of rapidly analyzing hundreds of blood cells per second, detecting if they exhibit abnormal changes in their size and structure. "Until now, physical changes of blood cells have not been considered to play a role in COVID-19 related vascular occlusion and organ damage." The results showed that red blood cells (erythrocytes) in COVID-19 patients varied more in size than those from healthy people, and showed signs of stiffness in their physical structure, exhibiting less deformability, which could affect their ability to deliver oxygen through the body.
"The physical properties of erythrocytes are crucial for microcirculatory flow and as such, these changes could impair circulation and promote hypoxemia," according to the researchers.
The Delta variant of Covid 19 has now been detected in all 50 states and Washington, DC, according to the latest tally from CNN. Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday he's "very concerned about" the stark disparity between places with low and high vaccination rates. This unfortunately could lead to there soon being "two Americas" -- one where most people are vaccinated and another where low vaccination rates could lead to case spikes.
Since May, people ages 12 to 29 have accounted for about a third of hospitalizations a greater proportion than in the past CDC data shows. "I'm concerned about the Delta variant," US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN on Wednesday. "And I am worried that what we are seeing in terms of a plateauing of cases nationally but also an increase in cases in many small sections of the United States, that that is, in fact, being driven by the Delta variant."
DO COVID-19 VACCINES WORK IN PEOPLE WITH HIV, CANCER OR ORGAN TRANSPLANTS? COVID-19 vaccines do a remarkable job in protecting people from severe disease, but some evidence shows people with weakened immune systems may not develop as robust antibody responses — or any at all.
Immunocompromised people were largely left out of initial clinical trials for the shots, so little is known about how effective the vaccines are in the group.
But two new studies published this month suggest people with some conditions such as HIV and solid tumor cancers develop sufficient antibodies against the coronavirus, while others like those with organ transplants or blood cancers are less likely to respond to the vaccines. More work needs to be done on this subject.
Until next time: Stay Safe, Stay Well, get Vaccinated and Don’t be afraid to wear your Mask when in doubt.
James A Vito, D.M.D.