Question: Delta variant: What is it and how serious is it from the other variants?
Delta variant, or B.1.617.2, was first identified in India in December 2020. Within a matter of months, the Delta variant spread to over 98 countries around the world, now the dominant variant in more than a dozen countries, including India, Scotland, the U.K., Israel and the United States.
What is clear is that the majority of hospitalizations and COVID-19-associated deaths in the U.S. are occurring within unvaccinated populations, leading to a chilling warning from CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky that “this is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
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Delta variant takes hold in developing world as infections soar
Here's why this is important...
The economies in Europe and the US that successfully weakened the virus between infections and deaths have started to reopen, poorer countries with low vaccination rates are in some cases entering their worst phase of the pandemic. The world thinks the pandemic is over…it’s just started up again, this time it’s with another variant.
Who's involved
Fatima Hassan Founder of South Africa’s Health Justice Initiative
Dr Matshidiso Moeti WHO’s regional director
Trudie Lang Professor of Global Health Research; Head of the Global Health Network and Senior Research Scientist in Tropical Medicine
A Few Mutations Away’: The Threat of a Vaccine-Proof Variant
Here's why this is important...
Rochelle Walensky, CDC Director, made a dire prediction that, if we weren’t already living within the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, would sound more like a pitch for a movie about a dystopian future. “For the amount of virus circulating in this country right now largely among unvaccinated people, the largest concern that we in public health and science are worried about is that the virus…[becomes] a very transmissible virus that has the potential to evade our vaccines in terms of how it protects us from severe disease and death.” So far, the vaccines work, but for that to continue work, we need more vaccinated people in the population.
Who's involved
Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH CDC Director
Lewis Nelson, MD Professor and clinical chair of emergency medicine and chief of the Division of Medical Toxicology
Stuart Ray, MD Vice-chair of medicine for data integrity and analytics and professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases
Poll: Unvaccinated Americans least concerned about Delta variant
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While 48 percent of “not fully/not vaccinated” respondents in the poll said they were concerned about the Delta variant, 72 percent of fully vaccinated Americans are worried. Among the unvaccinated polled by CBS, 53 percent said they don’t want a shot because they are worried about the side effects. Fifty percent cited not trusting the government as one of their reasons, and 45 percent said they don’t trust the science.
Who's involved
CBS News
New York Times
Verified podcast
Coronapod: does England’s COVID strategy risk breeding deadly variants?
Here's why this is important...
The UK government has announced virtually all COVID restrictions will be removed in England. This will do away with social distancing requirements, allow businesses to re-open to full capacity and remove legal mask mandates. This decision comes, however, amidst soaring infections rates in the country, driven by the Delta variant.
Now scientists are questioning the wisdom of this policy and asking whether the combination of high transmission and a partially vaccinated population could provide the perfect breeding ground for vaccine-resistant variants – a possibility that could have devastating global consequences. Have a listen.
Who's involved
Noah Baker Chief Multimedia Editor, Coronapod, Nature Magazine
Philip Ball Science Writer
Verified Videos
Delta variant may be the most contagious virus we’ve seen in living memory: Dr Larry Brilliant
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Dr Larry Brilliant, CEO of Pandefense Advisors and epidemiologist says the mRNA vaccines have been effective in keeping us safe and out of the hospital, but the Covid-19 delta variant depresses its efficacy in keeping us from getting the disease and transmitting it.
Who's involved
Dr Larry Brilliant CEO of Pandefense Advisors and epidemiologist
How Covid’s Delta Variant Quickly Spread Globally
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Covid-19’s Delta variant is proliferating worldwide threatening unvaccinated populations and economic recovery. WSJ breaks down events in key countries to explain why Delta spreads faster than previously detected strains.
Who's involved
Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Boris Johnson Prime Minister United Kingdom
Narendra Modi Prime Minister India
Joe Biden President United States
Betsey McKay Global Health, Senior Writer, WSJ Reporter
