Delta variant spreads as New York City ahead of vaccinations

NEW YORK – The delta variant has become dominant in coronavirus cases in the United States, accounting for more than half of cases nationwide in the week ending July 3, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A number of clusters have been reported in states with vaccine delays, while the vaccine count in New York is above the national average.

Health experts have said that while the risk of getting sick from the delta variant is low for those who have been fully vaccinated, its spread could delay the end of the pandemic.

“Delta will certainly accelerate the pandemic” around the world, Yale Medicine epidemiologist F. Perry Wilson said in a statement.

The delta variant, which was first seen in India and first detected in the US in March, spreads 50% faster than the alpha variant that originated in Britain, which itself spreads 50% faster. % faster than original coronavirus strain, according to Yale Medicines.

It accounted for 19.2% of coronavirus cases in New York City over a four-week period ending June 19, according to CDC figures. Just over half of the national coronavirus cases in a two-week period during that period involved the delta variant, Reuters reported.

Andy Slavitt, a former member of President Joe Biden’s Covid response team, told CNN that the delta variant is “the 2020 version of COVID-19 on steroids.”

“It’s twice as contagious,” Slavitt said. “Fortunately, unlike 2020, we actually have a tool that stops the delta variant in its tracks: it’s called a vaccine.”

This is being shown in North Carolina, among other states, where the state health secretary has said more than 99% of new cases have occurred in people who are not fully vaccinated, according to WITN.

As of July 8, 24 states were examining a weekly increase in coronavirus cases of 10% or more, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

States in regions with a high cluster of delta variant cases are among those lagging behind in vaccination, WBUR and others have reported. In the region including New York City, the delta variant accounted for 56.6% of recent cases, according to a map from Fortune.com.

In New York City, 66.8% of people aged 18 and over have been fully immunized, the CDC said. This compares to the national immunization rate of 58.9% as of July 13.