Dangerous Delta Details: This vicious variant, a mutation of the coronavirus, has claimed a great deal of publicity as well as human lives. Unfortunately, some of the publicity is misinformation and confusion.
Thus, FLASS is setting the record straight on a few of the most dangerous details about the Delta Variant.
A Dangerous Roller Coaster Ride on the Pandemic Express
Diverging Variants like the Delta Might Continue to Plague Us if We Don’t Enhance Our Herd Immunity.
We compare the Delta Variant to an evil roller coaster. Delta has begun to take us back up to pandemic panic just when we were beginning to enjoy a smooth valley of normal life. resuming a normal pace of activities.
According to Yale Medicine, “…People began to feel some hope—or at least cautious optimism—early this summer…” We felt the pandemic could recede to the background, but we always knew “there was still the threat that new mutations of the COVID-19 virus could bring it back, and it might be even stronger.”
Defining Delta: Scary Delta Designations
The experts at Yale Medicine identify the Delta Variant as “A major worry right now.” They recognized it as a “highly contagious SARS-CoV-2 virus strain, which was first identified in India in December.”
As you probably know it burned through India and Great Britain. Then, we saw it diverge into the predominant variant in the US.
Characteristics of the Delta Variant
She is Fully Vaccinated but Wears a Mask. Discover Why.
The New York Times recently reported that the CDC (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) spoke out in the scariest possible way:
- They stated the Delta Variant was more “transmissible than the common cold and influenza…”
- Likewise, they reported in the New York Times that it was “as transmissible as the viruses that cause smallpox, MERS, SARS, and Ebola…”
- Finally, the CDC claimed it was “as contagious as chickenpox in an internal document, a copy of which was obtained by and reported on in The New York Times.”
Crowded Hospitals: Putting Us on Alert
Without causing our readers undue anxiety, we would like to add some reliable Delta Variant Details from the Mayo Clinic news network. Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and the head of May Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group made this statement, without hyperbole.
“We’re in this constant spiral, right now.” And he added, that “the number of delta viral particles in the upper respiratory system is reportedly 1,000 times higher than with the original COVID-19 virus.”
Serene Solutions
Exhibit A. This happy group has strong Herd Immunity. Strong Herd Immunity Discourages Viruses From Replicating and Mutating. They simply have no place to go.
However, Dr. Poland says the spiral can be stopped. In fact, his way might be the only way to eliminate the threat of the Delta Variant. And it is a difficult way. He believes that we can stop the spiral “by getting higher rates of immunization.” That means we must encourage more people to take vaccinations.
How Stopping the Spiral Works
- Dr. Poland stated, “Getting a COVID-19 vaccine will prevent the development of worse and worse variants.” Likewise, “a higher percentage of vaccinations will prevent severe cases of hospitalization and death…”
- And he added, “The alternative is to lose another 600,000 plus Americans. Only this time it will, unfortunately, involve younger people.”
Striking Deep in the Heart of The Delta Variant
Dr. Poland gave a further explanation you might not have ever heard. This explanation is so important and logical that FLASS also wonders why we have not heard it more often.
He explained, “Every time somebody gets infected with the delta variant, there’s the opportunity for that virus to mutate and transmit to other people…” This is a very strong argument in favor of getting the vaccination.
Do you have friends or relatives that are resisting the vaccine? If you do, perhaps this is the credible research detail that will be the tipping point in a positive new decision to take the vaccine.
Dr. Poland’s Mayo Clinic Conclusion
Exhibit B: This Diagram Shows a sad Herd with weak immunity. The unvaccinated humans are symbolized by the red faces. There are so many of them that they weaken the herd.
In the above diagram, we can see the unimmunized population is giving their virus plenty of room to grow and mutate. Immunized members of the group can become carriers of the new variants. In turn, even the immunized members catch the new strain because it is stronger than the last one.
Due to the virulent nature of the Delta Variant, Dr. Poland sincerely believes that we need immunization rates of 85-95 percent. At those levels, we can control herd immunity and resist present and future offshoots of the Covid-19 virus.
Dangerous Delta Details: Yale Medicine In Agreement with Stopping the Tragic Spiral
We know that the “highest spread of cases and severe outcomes are happening in places with low vaccination rates…” This assertion bears solemn witness to the fact that most recent hospitalizations and deaths “have been among the unvaccinated, according to the CDC.”
We also recently learned “vaccinated people also can transmit Delta, which officials did not believe to be the case with other variants…”
An Evolving Masking Protocol and FLASS Plea
Now, we come to another main point in our Delta Variant investigation. Because vaccinated people can transmit the Delta Variant, many agencies are revising their mask protocols.
They are going back to highly recommending or mandating mask-wearing. Yes, we are asking people who have been vaccinated to give up some personal freedom and comfort to protect friends, neighbors, and even strangers, by wearing a mask.
Three Fascinating Facts about the Dangerous Delta Details: Variant vs. Vaccines
There are three truths packed around the battle of truth in reporting Delta Variant statistics.
1. In regards to catching the Delta Variant, we know, “People who have not been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are most at risk.”
2. We’re also aware that, “In the U.S., there is a disproportionate number of unvaccinated people in Southern and Appalachian states including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, and West Virginia.”
3. Consequently, these are also states where the Delta Variant is on the attack with a rising number of victims.
Let’s Defy the Dangerous Delta Details
We seem to be living in a dangerous time. However, Inci Yildirim, MD, Ph.D., a Yale Medicine pediatric infectious diseases specialist and a vaccinologist, is completely non-plussed by this turn of the pandemic roller coaster. She states, “All viruses evolve over time and undergo changes as they spread and replicate.”
From this point, we still know a couple of iron-clad facts. Firstly, we know people who took the vaccine “have strong protection against COVID-19 compared to those who” didn’t take the vaccine.
“But anyone who is unvaccinated and not practicing preventive strategies is at high risk for infection by the new variant…”
Terrific Take-Aways from the Dangerous Delta Details
Protect Our Children: Get the Vaccine.
Meanwhile, we present you with another logical but alarming declaration by Yale’s Dr. Poland. “If we can’t find ways to get people vaccinated, we are going to be in a world of hurt.”
Additionally, he stated, “And I don’t say that to be alarmist. I say it to be a realist, based on what’s happening right in front of us.”
Dr. Yildirim puts it this way: “If it is sunny and you’ll be outdoors, you put on sunscreen. If you are in a crowded gathering, potentially with unvaccinated people, you put your mask on and keep social distancing. If you are unvaccinated and eligible for the vaccine, the best thing you can do is to get vaccinated.”