According to internal documents from US health authorities, the delta variant of COVID-19 is “as contagious as chickenpox” and can be transmitted as easily as an unvaccinated person.
Health officials said they needed to “acknowledge that the war had changed” with respect to the varieties that had spread rapidly to the United States and other countries. Internal presentation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Acquired by The Washington Post, Reported the survey results On thursday.
Data from recent, unpublished studies are believed to have driven new guidelines. Tuesday According to the CDC, even vaccinated people wear masks indoors in parts of the United States and advise that cases are on the rise. The documentation itself states that the data is tentative and subject to change.
According to sources quoted by The Post, CDC director Rochelle Walensky personally explained to the House of Representatives Thursday, based on much of what was included on the slides.
Robert Wachter, chairman of the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, said on Twitter that some information is already known, but others are new and more concerned.
“My overall view:” The war has changed, “as the document says. The data are universal to prevent the spread of the more infectious and perhaps more serious virus, Delta, especially if it is true that vaccinated people can be part of the spread chain. Claims that masking is important. TweetHe added that a “new and much more aggressive” vaccination strategy is needed.
As Watchter explained, this document provides data that estimates that the delta strain R0 is 5-9, while the original strain is 2-3. The R number assesses how COVID-19 and other illnesses spread and represents how many people with one illness can infect on average.
“We estimate Delta’s R0 to be about 6, or about twice that of the original infection, which may be a bit worse,” he said. Tweet.. Documents indicate that delta variants are “more contagious” than MERS, SARS, Ebola, colds, seasonal flu, and smallpox, and are as easily transmitted as chickenpox.
Internal documents of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
He also said the data showed that the level of viral shedding was about 18 days compared to 13 days for the original strain, which could raise new questions about quarantine. And fully vaccinated people infected with the delta variant carry large amounts of the virus and can be as transmitted as unvaccinated people.
The presentation emphasizes the need for quicker and urgent action to address the epidemic of variants. Even if they are vaccinated.
The document acknowledges that breakthrough cases of vaccines “may reduce public confidence in vaccines” and poses communication challenges for public health authorities. In it, “the public is convinced that the vaccine no longer works / needs booster doses,” so authorities describe the breakthrough cases as “rare” or “small proportions.” You need to update the communication you want to do.
One slide estimates 35,000 symptomatic infections per week among 162 million vaccinated Americans, but illness among unvaccinated Americans. You will find that the risk of hospitalization and death is much higher.
Officials told the post that the data will be fully released on Friday. The CDC did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
