COVID-19- The Pandemic of the Unvaccinated
Unfortunately, the unheeded concerns that we have been voicing are coming to fruition. With the lifting mandates, the emergence of variants, and the dramatic slowing of vaccination rates Covid-19 cases are skyrocketing in every state except two (SD & WY). Across the country over the last week, cases are up 74%, hospitalizations have increased 46%, and deaths are up 26%. Cases in Los Angeles County are up 300% in the last 3 weeks. Forty states have seen 100% increases in the last two weeks. A total of 606,618 Americans have died from this virus. Most current deaths and hospitalizations caused by Covid-19 are preventable! It is compelling that 99% of the US Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths occurring in the US are in the unvaccinated. It is alarming that it is summer and cooler weather will bring further increases.
The adults who choose not to be vaccinated are leaving themselves vulnerable to the currently rampant Delta variant. This variant now makes up 83% of the Covid-19 infections in the USA. That percentage was 50% less than two weeks ago. If these statistics are not convincing enough, maybe some will be moved by the following emerging science. This Delta variant is the most contagious variant across the world. It spreads 225% faster than any other version of the virus. Research shows that the actual number of individual viruses produced in the body of a Delta variant victim is 1260 times greater than the original strain. Patients infected with the Delta also develop detectable levels of the virus in their bodies at day four after infection as opposed to day six (6) for those who developed infection caused by the original (Alpha) strain. The current round of hospitalizations is occurring in younger people, and they are requiring more ICU care.
So, we ask “what about the children?”. Unvaccinated adults are putting children under the age of 12, who are not eligible for vaccination, at extreme risk for the Delta and other generations of variants yet to develop. There are currently 100M Americans who have NO immunity which includes children under 12 years old. New variants cannot develop if we decrease the number of people susceptible. We have the means to decrease the number of susceptible if only the eligible unvaccinated people would simply take one of the safe, effective, and available vaccines. It is likely that it will be 3-6 months before there is approval of the vaccines for the children under age 12. We must protect our children who need to be back in face-to-face school instruction. The CDC has declared that kids should be in school and masked if not vaccinated. While children are in school, social distancing of at least 3 feet should be maintained.
Another consequence of people choosing not to get vaccinated is that “breakthrough infections” are occurring on an increasing basis. The good news is that if you have been fully vaccinated and then test positive you are less likely to be contagious and are likely protected from severe disease, hospitalization, or death. You may be asymptomatic. One might ask how can a vaccinated person get reinfected? The answer is that no vaccine is perfect so there is a small number of people who are susceptible. Add to this the much larger number of people who have chosen not to get vaccinated and those children who are not eligible then it remains easy for the virus to find a new victim. In the process of infecting new people, the virus mutates. Thus, we see variants eventually less susceptible to the vaccine. We can easily break this chain of events if eligible adults would make the choice to become vaccinated. Some Fortune 500 companies and governmental entities such as NYC health are giving workers the choice of getting fully vaccinated or getting tested daily as a condition of work. Incentives have not been universally effective so consequences of the choices may be helpful.
America was subjected to the Alpha strain last year, the Delta strain this year, and if so, many people are not getting vaccinated there will be a different strain next year. The proliferation of these variants is preventable! Just get vaccinated!!
