Now is “probably the most dangerous time” to avoid vaccination, says doctor

With COVID hotspots growing in the country and the Delta variant as the dominant strain, unvaccinated people in the United States may be more vulnerable than at any time when vaccines were available amid the pandemic.

“If you are not vaccinated, this is probably the most dangerous time of the pandemic yet,” Dr. Sejal Hathi, professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Yahoo Finance Live (video above). “It is extremely important that you get this vaccine. Otherwise, unfortunately, we will continue to see cases increase and with that, hospitalizations and subsequently deaths. “

The 7-day average of new cases in the United States is 37,673, although this varies widely by region. States like Louisiana, Florida, Arkansas and Missouri have some of their highest numbers of new cases since the start of the pandemic. And many of those same states have lower than average immunization rates.

And according to the CDC, preliminary data indicated that 99.5% of COVID-related deaths in the past six months were in unvaccinated people.

“We have the silver bullet,” Hathi said. “Vaccines are safe, effective, they work. And this pandemic will continue to rage relentlessly until we provide equal access to this quick fix to everyone across the world. It is imperative that as infections increase everywhere, including here at home in the United States, we do more to make sure we get gunfire. “

“Many of us are in danger”

Part of the problem is that vaccines are not distributed at the same rate across the country.

For example, in the Southeast, most vaccination rates for those who have received at least one dose are below 50%. Yet in the Northeast, that number is 60% or more.

“The rates of COVID cases in poorly vaccinated counties are more than twice as high as those in heavily vaccinated counties – those in which at least 60% of their population is fully vaccinated,” Hathi said.

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With the spread of the Delta variant and the resumption of classes this fall, the question is what will be the guidelines for wearing masks and social distancing, especially since those under 12 cannot yet be done. vaccinate.

According to Hathi, this should be determined on a case-by-case basis depending on the conditions in your local community.

“As a general rule, communities should aim to have fewer than four new daily cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people,” Hathi said. “If you belong to a neighborhood, community or city that has met this criteria and you’ve been vaccinated, you probably don’t need to mask yourself.”

However, she added, “if you belong to a community where vaccination rates are very low, such as many states in the South and South East, and you are in an indoor environment where people vaccinated and unvaccinated mix, you should probably consider masking. “

This also applies to people who live with unvaccinated children, immunocompromised people, or those who have not been able to get vaccinated due to immunocompromised conditions.

“What I strongly encourage the federal government to do is roll out additional guidance on indoor environments where unvaccinated and vaccinated people mix,” Hathi said, “because right now, with the Delta variant of increasingly transmissible, many of us are at risk. “

Adriana Belmonte is a journalist and health policy and policy editor for Yahoo Finance. You can follow her on Twitter @adrianambells and reach her at [email protected].

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