Delta variations of coronavirus cause more severe illnesses than earlier versions and are contagious like chicken, many US media have reported quoting an internal document prepared by a top American health agency.
The Washington Post, which first reported the findings, said an internal document accused health officials of “acknowledging that the war had changed”.
A report prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), based on external research and unpublished data from the outbreak investigation, shows Delta’s human-to-human variability faster than Ebola viruses, MERS, SARS, influenza, annual flu, and smallpox. It is contagious like chickens, according to news reports quoting a CDC document.
This document shows that vaccinated people, although protected from serious illnesses, can transmit the Delta virus as well as those who are not vaccinated. When infected, the vaccinated individuals were found to be carrying the same amount of viral load as those who were not vaccinated and that was the result, reports media reports, that were after the CDC’s return to the mask.
The health agency has changed its two-month-old guidelines allowing vaccinated people to do without masks and issued a new recommendation that uses face masks in certain high-risk situations earlier this week.
The US is seeing an increase in new infections, about 70,000 every day. And the CDC believes that vaccinated people are spreading the virus, even though it is much smaller than the non-vaccinated. Statistics show that there are approximately 35,000 symptomatic diseases per week among the 162 million Americans vaccinated, reports The New York Times based on a CDC document.
An internal document recommends that vaccinated individuals with weakened immune systems should wear masks even in low-risk situations and should therefore vaccinate people who come in contact with children or adults, according to an NYT report.
But the current coverage guide may not be enough and the CDC report said, “Given the high availability and current availability of vaccines, global coverage is important.”