Delta

Last update: Friday 11/26/21 

This page provides essential information and links to authoritative sources of information about Delta.

 




... Under continuing reconstruction ... 



A. Essentials
  • Delta variant has become dominant in the U.S.
    -- In recent weeks more than 80 percent of new infections have been Delta

  • Delta variant is about four times as contagious as the original coronavirus 
    -- Delta spreads much faster than previous variants

  • Fully vaccinated persons can become infected by Delta
    -- The CDC sys that these "breakthrough" cases are "rare", but seem to be more frequent with Delta than with previous variants

  • Vaccines are still effective against Delta
    -- 97 percent of  the people hospitalized in recent weeks were unvaccinated
    -- The vast majority of "breakthrough" cases have been mild or asymptomatic.

  • Vaccinated and unvaccinated persons infected by Delta carry a thousand times more virus in their noses and throats than persons infected by the original coronavirus 

Currently unanswered questions
  • How "rare" can "breakthrough" cases really be, given that over 70 percent of the cluster of 882 July 4th cases in the Provincetown beach resort were fully vaccinated, and the majority of 200  recent cases in two San Francisco Hospitals were also fully vaccinated -- as described in the NY Times articles listed in the "media" section at the bottom of this page, below, flagged with red asterisks ***.
B. Government sources

The White House

  • "U.S. to Advise Boosters for Most Americans 8 Months After Vaccination", Sharon LaFraniere, NY Times, 8/17/21 ...Editor's note -- This posture implies that the Biden administration is anticipating a massive surge in breakthroughs as result of a presumed decline in the effectiveness of the vaccines after 8 months

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
  • "Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People", C.D.C,. 7/28/21

  • "Outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 Infections, Including COVID-19 Vaccine Breakthrough Infections, Associated with Large Public Gatherings — Barnstable County, Massachusetts, July 2021", C.D.C., 7/30/21 

  • "C.D.C. Internal Report Calls Delta Variant as Contagious as Chickenpox", Apoorva Mandavilli, NY Times, 7/30/21 ***

  • "C.D.C. Panel Recommends Third Dose of Covid Vaccine for Immunocompromised", Noah Weiland, NY Times, 8/13/21

  • "Delta Variant: What We Know About the Science", C.D.C., 8/19/21


    • National Institutes of Health (NIH)


    FDA

    C. Biomedical experts

    Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)

    •  "COVID-19 Vaccine Breakthrough Cases: Data from the States, Jennifer Kates, Lindsey Dawson, Emma Anderson, Anna Rouw, Josh Michaud, and Natalie Singer, KFF, 7/30/21

    D. News media
    • "Vaccinated People May Spread the Virus, Though Rarely, C.D.C. Reports", Apoorva Mandavilli, NY Times, 7/30/21
    • "The Delta Variant: What Scientists Know", Emily Anthes, NY Times, 7/30/21
    • "Is the Delta Variant Making Younger Adults ‘Sicker, Quicker’?", Roni Caryn Rabin, NY Times, 8/3/21
    • "The Delta Variant Is Sending More Children to the Hospital. Are They Sicker, Too?", Emily Anthes, NY Times, 8/9/21
    • "What to Know About Breakthrough Infections and the Delta Variant", Apoorva Mandavilli, NY Times, 8/11/21
    • "The Delta Variant Isn't As Contagious As Chickenpox. But It's Still Highly Contagious", NPR, 8/11/21
    • "Vaccine immunity may not really be waning much — which means universal booster shots may do little good.", David Leonhardt, NY Times, 8/30/21 
    • "Why cloth masks are on some airlines’ no-fly lists", Hannah Sampson, Washington Post, 9/4/21

    E. Breakthrough cases
    • "COVID Warnings From Washington Rise With The Uptick In Cases Around The Country", Alana Wise, NPR, 7/20/21
    • "More than 200 staff members at 2 San Francisco hospitals have tested positive, most in breakthrough Delta infections.", Eduardo Medina, NY Times, 7/31/21 ***
  • "‘It’s Nowhere Near Over’: A Beach Town’s Gust of Freedom, Then a U-turn", Ellen Barry and Beth Treffeisen, NY Times, 8/1/21
  • "How Provincetown, Mass., stress-tested the coronavirus vaccine with summer partying and delta", Hannah Knowles and Randy Dotinga, Washington Post, 8/5/21
  • "Fourth Vaccinated Member Of Congress Tests Positive For Coronavirus", Andrew Solender, Forbes, 8/6/21
  • "27 people test positive for coronavirus on Carnival cruise ship", Hannah Sampson, Washington Post, 8/13/21
  • "Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has tested positive for the coronavirus.", Dan Levin, J. David Goodman and Edgar Sandoval, NY Times, 8/17/21

  • "Israel, Once the Model for Beating Covid, Faces New Surge of Infections", Isabel Kershner, NY Times, 8/18/21 ... Editor's note -- Israel has concluded that breakthroughs are a substantial part of the surge due to a decline in the effectiveness of its Pfizer vaccines.

  • "Cruise Passenger Dies From Covid, Testing Industry Plans", Ceylan Yeginsu, NY Times, 8/23/21 ... Note: the passenger was vaccinated

  • "Why Provincetown’s Response to Its Covid Outbreak Was So Effective", William Hanage and K.J. Seung, NY Times, 8/27/21

  • "New data confirm Covid vaccines provide strong protection against hospitalization.", Emily Anthes, NY Times, 8/31/21  

  • "COVID-19 Cases in Fully Vaccinated Individuals", Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 9/14/21 ...

    This new report declares that there were 27,777 breakthrough cases in Massachusetts as of 9/11/21; and that there were 23,858 as of 9/4/21, a week earlier; the week's increase = 3,919.

    On 9/17/21, the department's weekly dashboard spreadsheet recorded 720,245 cases on 9/4/21, and 731,987 on 9/11/21; the week's increase in total infections = 11,732.

    Therefore breakthrough infections accounted for 3,919 / 11,732 = 33 percent of the total new infections

  • "‘We Are a Complete Outlier’: HBS Moves Some Classes Online Amid Covid-19 Outbreak", Claire H. Guo and Christine Mui, Crimson Staff Writers, The Harvard Crimson, 9/28/21 ... Note: HBS = Harvard Business School ... All students, faculty, staff, and researchers must be vaccinated

  • "Colin Powell had been treated for a cancer that severely impairs the immune system, lowering coronavirus vaccine effectiveness", Joel Achenbach and Lenny Bernstein, Washington Post, 10/18/21





    • ________________________
    Related notes on this blog:




    No comments:

    Post a Comment

    Your comments will be greatly appreciated ... Or just click the "Like" button above the comments section if you enjoyed this blog note.

    Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)