Introduction
With almost 164 million Americans being fully vaccinated by late July, many people have high hopes that the disastrous COVID-19 pandemic will finally come to end. However, the extremely contagious Delta variant is spreading at a faster rate everyday worldwide.
A SARS-CoV-2 mutation, otherwise known as the Delta variant, originally appeared in India around December 2020. Soon after, Delta became the dominant virus strain in both India and Great Britain. Present day, the United States suffers from almost 80% of new Covid-19 cases sourced from Delta. Researchers at the World Health Organization conclude that the Delta virus is the “fastest and the fittest,” meaning the variant is almost twice as transmissible as other strains. Although there is conclusive research that unvaccinated people are at the greatest risk when it comes to the Delta variant, experts conclude that vaccinated people can still transmit the virus, even when they’re asymptomatic: Dr. Anthony S. Fauci affirms “Vaccinated people are transmitting it, and the extent is unclear, but there’s no doubt they’re transmitting it.”
“Two Americas”
With only about 49% of Americans being fully vaccinated, clustered populations are starting to form around the country, some with high vaccination rates and others with low. This new phase of the pandemic regarding the Delta variant differs greatly from the initial spread of Covid-19 as the risk varies from American to American based on vaccination: studies show that people who have not been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are at greater risk. This unproportional number of unvaccinated Americans conglomerated in Alabama, Arkansa, Mississippi, and Georgia may create outbreaks in those smaller communities. This may change the face of the Delta phase of the pandemic: areas with a higher unvaccinated population may face higher death rates, overwhelming patients at local medical hospitals/offices, and/or an uprising of cases when it comes to the Delta variant. As the controversial topic of vaccinations are becoming more widespread among Americans, we already start to see “two Americas” forming between unvaccinated and vaccinated people. This new Delta variant will affect both these groups vastly differently and will additionally change how this pandemic may persist.
Ongoing Research
However, there is still immense research that needs to be done when it comes to this variant. Pfzier, Moderna, and Oxford-AstraZeneca are just some of the companies that are still undergoing tests to solidify how their vaccine will hold against new strains in addition to the Delta variant. Doctors and patients still question how exactly the Delta variant will affect the human body, the symptoms of the virus compared to Covid-19, and the severity of it. Will it result in more hospitalizations? Does it affect certain age groups more? The subvariant of Delta, named Delta Plus, has been reported in India and subjected to research to understand the impact this additional strain might cause. Research regarding Covid-19 and its strains are far from over, unfortunately lengthening this seemingly “never-ending” pandemic.
Click here to read more about the Delta Variant on the UC Davis website.
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