COVID-19 Delta Variant Poses New Pandemic Challenges
Nation Grapples With ‘Pandemic of the Unvaccinated” Amid Spread of Highly Contagious Variant
Nearly eighteen months after the nation first entered lockdown, the COVID-19 delta variant has changed the landscape of the pandemic.
The delta variant is a highly transmissible strain of the virus that has quickly become the predominant coronavirus strain in the U.S. The delta variant has forced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state governments to alter their masking guidance amid a nationwide surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths. As the death rate rises steadily despite widespread vaccine availability, the recent burst in coronavirus cases has been deemed a “pandemic of the unvaccinated".
"There is a clear message that is coming through: This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated," Walensky said at a briefing of the White House COVID-19 Response Team. "Our biggest concern is we are going to continue to see preventable cases, hospitalizations and sadly deaths among the unvaccinated."
As of early August, half of all people in the U.S. are fully vaccinated, according to new data from the CDC. While southern states have generally lagged behind in their vaccination rates, the recent increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, along with bolstered outreach efforts aimed at combating misinformation and hesitancy, has led to an increased pace of vaccinations. Alabama's average of new doses administered, for example, has more than doubled since mid-July. The state has the lowest rate of its population fully vaccinated in the nation, at 34%.
On July 27, the CDC revised its guidance on masks, now recommending that fully vaccinated individuals wear masks indoors in public when in areas of substantial or high virus transmission. As of August 11, nearly 98% of Americans live in an area where there is a high or substantial risk of community transmission, up from only 19% of Americans a month prior. The mask guidance for the unvaccinated remains the same: continue masking until fully vaccinated.
“This pandemic continues to pose a serious threat to the health of all Americans,” Walensky said in late July while announcing the new mask guidance. “Today, we have new science related to the delta variant that requires us to update the guidance regarding what you can do when you are fully vaccinated.”
Walensky told reporters the delta variant behaves “uniquely differently from past strains of the virus,” and said new data indicates that some vaccinated people infected with the more transmissible variant “may be contagious and spread the virus to others.”
In addition, the CDC recommends that everyone in K-12 schools including teachers, staff, students and visitors wear masks regardless of vaccination status. As the vaccines are not yet authorized for children under 12, grade school students are left largely unprotected from the virus as they prepare to return to school in the fall. The nation’s leading association of pediatricians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, has also released updated guidance amid the delta variant surge, now recommending all students over 2 years old, as well as staff, continue to wear masks in schools.
With the delta variant causing a rapid increase in coronavirus cases, particularly in areas with low vaccination rates, school officials across the nation are reinstating their mask mandates for the fall in an attempt to curb virus spread. Despite the recommendations of the CDC and the AAP, many schools are unable to require masks for the upcoming school year due to state regulations prohibiting mask mandates. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has threatened to withhold salaries of school officials who implement mask mandates. In South Carolina, state law bans schools from instituting masking requirements.
This reversal of its earlier position on masking also came as the 7-day average of reported cases surpassed 70,000, the peak seen last summer before the approval of a coronavirus vaccine in the U.S. New concerns about rare breakthrough infections, or instances where vaccinated individuals contract the virus, also influenced the CDC’s decision to revisit their masking guidance.
While people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are largely protected against severe infection, hospitalization and death from the virus, vaccine breakthrough cases are being reported in small numbers. Of the 165 million-plus people who have been fully vaccinated since January, around 125,000 have tested positive for Covid — less than .08%. More than 99% of recent coronavirus deaths were among the unvaccinated, according to infectious disease medical expert Anthony Fauci.