Delta virus: Contagiousness, Lethality. Recent surge in US and warning for our population

Salient Features As of August 16, 2021, the US is fully vaccinated 50.8% of the population This latest surge is closely associated with Delta variant. The overwhelming majority of severe cases are occurring among unvaccinated individuals.

The Delta variant is highly transmissible (60% more than Alpha variant) and spreads rapidly and causes massive numbers of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths Data from the UK suggest that 1 dose of either the BioNtech COVID- 19 vaccine -or Covishield  vaccine is insufficient to protect against symptomatic infection with Delta variant, but 2 doses increases effectiveness to 88% and 67%, respectively Breakthrough infections (Infection after full vaccination) occur with Delta variant. However, the disease is much less severe in fully vaccinated preventing hospitalization and death