Health officials are preparing for Delta Variant | COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease)

Traverse City — A new, more contagious variant of COVID-19 is heading to northern Michigan, officials say.

On Tuesday, several public health officials warned the public to be wary of a strain of coronavirus known as the delta variant. This is a more contagious and stronger mutation than both the original strain of COVID-19 last spring and the second causative alpha mutation, shaking this winter.

Although not yet detected in Traverse City, this variant has caused a surge in unvaccinated pockets nationwide. As Delta becomes the predominant strain of COVID-19, new variants renew concerns about the recent slowdown in vaccination rates in the region.

“It’s very likely that we’ll see another surge in the Delta variant,” Kristin Neffy, chief medical officer at the Manson Medical Center, said in a press conference Tuesday.

Vaccines remain the best line of defense, but delta mutants have been shown to have a greater impact on respiratory illness, causing more hospitalizations and deaths.

Other nasty reports include early studies from Israel that found delta mutants to be far superior in breaking through the immunity provided by the vaccine. The study found that the Pfizer vaccine still prevented serious illness in 94% of cases, but only 64% against infection.

Nefsey repeated many years of advice, especially for unvaccinated people, to wear a mask, coupled with being dramatically more contagious than its predecessor.

“We haven’t got out of it yet,” Nefsey said.

So far, northern Michigan has been spared. District Health Department 10 staff have not yet detected cases in the target area, including Kalkaska, Manisty, Newaygo, Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Missaukee, Crawford, Oceana, and Wexford counties. Hmm.

But recently, Delta variants have crashed into low-immunization areas across the United States.

In Missouri, this variant was responsible for doubling the state’s average seven-day case count.

In Kansas, the Delta mutant has become the predominant strain. According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most counties in the state are vaccinated with 30-50%.

Delta variants can cause similar surges in low-vaccinated areas of Michigan. In Kalkaska, over 47% of the population is vaccinated.

In Niego, only 44 percent are vaccinated.

“If 60% of the population does not have immunity, it spreads very quickly,” said Jennifer Morse, medical director of DHD10.

Morse described the new variant as a “bigger, worse organism”, given data from countries such as Israel and the United Kingdom, where the delta variant has been studied for a longer time.

“We are really worried about those pockets of individuals,” Morse said.

Health officials are struggling to vaccinate people in several Midwestern counties in Michigan, including Kalkaska, Wexford, and Newaygo.

In a study, DHD 10 found that 66% of people who had not yet been vaccinated stated that there was nothing to convince them to be vaccinated.

Residents of these counties still consider COVID-19 a hoax, Morse said. Others have said that vaccination is “socially unacceptable.” She believes that vaccinations are becoming less and less common at public events where people can see people getting jabs, such as farmers markets and festivals.

“I think we’re just working on a group that isn’t sure we’ll be vaccinated at this point,” Morse said on Tuesday. “We can’t find a reason or way to change their minds. We need to find all the opportunities to vaccinate others.”

Nevertheless, the vaccine remains the best defense against COVID-19. Almost all patients who died of the virus in June were unvaccinated, according to the country’s chief epidemiologist, Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Grand Traverse County officials are also concerned about the rapid spread of variants in aggregate settings. Last week, Cherryfest brought hundreds of thousands of tourists to the area.

Wendy Hilsenberger, a health officer in Grand Traverse County, said:

Hilsenberger said he expects more cases in the weeks following the Cherry Fest.

However, given that many attendees will soon leave the county to move down or out of the state, it will be difficult for authorities to track the potential spread.

As tourists in Traverse County begin to return to pre-pandemic levels, the threat of delta variants also arises.

Trevor Tkach, president of Traverse City Tourism, said tourism this summer has just begun to return to the levels last seen in 2019.

Tkach was sticking to the role that the vaccine played in the reopening of the city.

“The hospitality and tourism industry understands that if vaccination rates are not very high, it can always happen again,” said Tkach. “We don’t want to see it.”

Mr. Tokarch said he was optimistic about the outlook for the city in the summer, including the ability to see scenarios where gatherings would return to the use of indoor masks, if needed. He said he was less worried about tourists coming from counties with low immunization rates.

“Hopefully, the lower their vaccination coverage, the lower their exposure,” Tkach said.