By Sarah Kirsh
It's been about a year and a half of this ongoing pandemic. While most of us thought this would all be over in a few months, one variant has turned the country back into a COVID cluster. The Delta variant of COVID-19 is mutated to spread faster than other coronavirus variants, making it extremely dangerous to both the vaccinated and unvaccinated. At the same time, the Pfizer vaccine was just officially FDA approved this past week. What is the reality of Delta, vaccines, and mandates as of now?
On July 27th, 2021 the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reversed their statement about masks and views of the pandemic as they saw COVID cases drastically increasing again. This was due to the rise of the Delta variant. According to the CDC, Delta is worse than earlier forms of the coronavirus for several reasons. For one, Delta is 2 times as contagious as earlier forms of the virus. As well, some sources show that Delta can cause more severe symptoms than earlier forms of the virus in the unvaccinated. The most worrying fact is that Delta can cause “breakthrough infections” in vaccinated people and continue to be spread by the vaccinated. Overall, Delta is no joke.
Since the beginning of the COVID vaccines, it was known that these vaccines aren’t perfect. There are breakthrough cases especially now with the presence of the Delta variant. According to the CDC, the effectiveness of COVID vaccines has decreased from 91% to 66% with the rise of Delta in the United States. While this means there certainly will be more infection in the United States, there is some good news. Still, vaccination itself decreases your chance of contracting COVID-19 and severely lessens the chances of extreme symptoms such as hospitalization or death. As well, the CDC found that vaccinated people infected with Delta were contagious for a shorter period of time versus unvaccinated people.
With months of ongoing research and trials about the Pfizer vaccine, it was just officially FDA approved this past week. Some universities have already used this as an excuse to mandate vaccination. These include the California State University system, the University of California system, Yale University, Northwestern University, Harvard University, Ohio State University, and more. While the spread of Delta has increased vaccination rates, has this approval increased rates as well? It might be too soon to tell, but there is hope. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey and The Wall Street Journal, about 33% of unvaccinated adults said: “they would be more likely to get the shot if one of the vaccines had full approval from the FDA.” Soon scientists will record if this actually drives adults to get their shot. In conclusion, a combination of dominating Delta and Pfizer approval may be the perfect storm to increase vaccination in America.
It has never been more important to get your COVID vaccine. The unfortunate reality is that the world and our country may be falling back into “unprecedented times.” No one is happy about it, but a vaccine will still reduce the chances of virus infection, spread, and severity. With vaccine mandates increasing across work fields, universities, and more, the world will soon see how mandates and Delta change the country.
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