The reported number of Delta COVID-19 cases is on the rise in San Antonio, as a 66% increase in hospitalizations was registered last week, city data suggests.
The area also records breakthrough incidents, leading to a COVID-19 positive test result in fully vaccinated individuals.
An official CDC document suggests that a vaccinated infected citizen can pass the virus on just as easily as an unvaccinated person can.
Dr Jan Patterson, an infectious disease specialist of the UT Health San Antonio, stated:
“The previous variant, one person would give it to maybe two, three people. The virus with this variant, it’s in the range of giving it to eight to nine people. So it’s really like a different virus. It’s just much more contagious.”
The CDC said that the COVID-19 Delta variant could possibly spread as rapidly as chickenpox.
The high viral load and significant transmissibility rate are the main factors that make the Delta variant so dangerous.
“There’s much more virus in the upper respiratory tract, which makes it more transmission, so this is why even fully vaccinated people can get a mild infection now,” Patterson added.
Rita Espinoza, the chief of epidemiology from the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, mentioned that, though vaccinated people can still contract the virus, the vaccine is the most efficient way to protect against the threat, Ksat reported.
She also mentioned that 95% of the new hospitalizations in the San Antonio region consist of unvaccinated individuals.
Scientists consider declaring a coronavirus outbreak in Provincetown, Massachusetts, as nearly 900 people were infected, three quarters out of them being unvaccinated.
This is the best sign that you have to get vaccinated to stay safe.
