Almost all of us will be exposed to the delta mutant, according to Virginia health officials.Heading

If not yet exposed to the delta variant of COVID-19, it is very contagious and spreads rapidly, so it will probably be exposed soon.

This is the opinion of Dr. Danny Avla, who is leading the COVID-19 vaccination effort in Virginia.

“Most of our population may be exposed to delta variants at some point in the coming months,” Avula said. “They are either exposed to what is fully vaccinated or not.”

Avula’s comments came on Tuesday when state health officials gave a media briefing on the dissemination of the Delta variant and the state’s response.

After falling to a minimum in late spring and early summer, the pandemic returned with revenge in Virginia. As of Wednesday, the state had an average of more than 1,733 new cases per day, the highest since February 27, 61.9% more than on the same date in 2020, when vaccines were unavailable. Based on testing a limited number of samples, health officials said that about 80% of Virginia cases are now delta mutants.

More than 70% of adults in Virginia are vaccinated, but Avula and other health officials say that Delta is highly contagious (2-4 times more than previous variants of the coronavirus). It states that the inoculation rate should actually be much higher. Herd immunity. “

And Avra ​​said the Delta variant wouldn’t be the last gasping of COVID.

“COVID never disappears after the delta variant,” he added. “We are likely to see future mutations and need to learn how to live with this disease.”

He said the COVID vaccine would probably be like a flu shot and would require a booster dose each year to tackle new strains as the virus mutates. He added that each variant has survived and is trying to evade the vaccine. “Delta Variant does a slightly better job in that regard.”

According to Avra, the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 is likely to receive an emergency permit from the Food and Drug Administration in September, slightly earlier than previously predicted.

We also hope that within the next few weeks, the FDA will fully license the adult vaccine that was approved in an emergency at the end of last year. When that happened, he said that vaccination demands by employer and location would become even more common.

He added that the FDA is also expected to quickly decide whether to approve a third booster shot of the early vaccine for immunocompromised individuals.

Avula acknowledged that current vaccines appear to be less effective against the Delta variant, but still generally prevent serious cases. “We need to follow science and vaccines are less effective than we thought, so do we need to understand that?” He said.

However, as a whole State report Since January 1, only 1.5% of all new cases have occurred in fully vaccinated individuals.

State epidemiologist Dr. Lillian Peak said the state is so-called by asking individuals who test positive for COVID whether they have been vaccinated and by comparing case data with state vaccination records. He said he was following a phased case. The state also reports cases to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with information about vaccines received by individuals.

However, the health department has stopped offering the ability to see on the dashboard how the percentage of breakthrough cases has changed over time and whether it has increased with the Delta variant.

Mr Peak said the state wants to focus its dashboard on the percentage of people who test positive after vaccination and those who have not. “I want to make sure that I’m presenting data that accurately conveys the risk.”

She added that as more people are vaccinated, there will be more breakthrough cases. “That doesn’t mean the vaccine doesn’t work. The vaccine works for all variants in the United States, including Delta.”

State data show that most parts of northern Virginia have some of the highest immunization rates in the state, but that percentage is actually probably even higher, Avla said. increase. This is because information about more than 448,000 vaccines that the federal government has given to Virginia citizens is not yet available in some regions.