This delta group of 900 people in Mass. panicked the CDC – 74% are vaccinated

An analysis of a COVID-19 group of around 900 people in Massachusetts, 74% of whom are vaccinated, is among the alarming data that prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to turn the tide on masks this week.

According to an internal CDC document first obtained by the Washington Post, data from the cluster in Provincetown, Massachusetts showed that those vaccinated carried surprisingly high levels of the delta coronavirus in their nose and throat. More importantly, it was found that vaccinated people spread the dangerous viral variant to other vaccinated people. Nationally, the CDC has estimated that there are 35,000 symptomatic infections per week among 162 million fully vaccinated Americans.

The CDC document broadly points out that the Delta is extremely contagious, far more so than previous versions of the virus, as well as the common cold or even the seasonal flu. Delta is more in tune with the contagiousness of chickenpox, according to the CDC document.

US officials should recognize that with the delta dominating the country, “the war has changed,” the document read. Officials who spoke to the Post say the analysis and urgency in the document is what prompted the CDC to revoke its masking guidelines earlier this week. The CDC now recommends masking indoors, regardless of vaccination status, in schools, in areas where transmission of COVID-19 is “high” or substantial, or when in contact with vulnerable people, such as only unvaccinated children or immunocompromised people.

But the document shared with the Post two days after the CDC mask update goes further, saying: “Given the higher transmissibility and current immunization coverage, universal masking is essential to reduce transmission of the disease. delta variant. “

The document also focused on the needle the CDC must now thread with its unpopular health messages, highlighting the critical need for everyone to be vaccinated, while also acknowledging the perhaps not-so-uncommon risk of breakthrough infections and the need to maintain mitigation. efforts even after vaccination. Despite worrying data from the Delta, vaccines have always been shown to be very effective against serious illness, hospitalization and death. They remain the most powerful tool to end the health crisis and regain some form of normalcy. But there are clearly caveats, and the CDC has yet to release the data it has to back up its new delta alarm.

In May, CDC officials bluntly told people that once they were fully immunized, they could tear off their masks in most settings, even in crowded interiors. The rhetoric around the change highlighted the effectiveness of vaccines and suggested that the guidelines were intended as an incentive for vaccination – the absence of hanging masks as a reward for receiving your vaccines. Many health experts criticized the brutality of the move and the fact that it was not carried out in stages or phases, linked for example to transmission levels or vaccination rates. Some also noted that without clear metrics for issuing and removing health metrics, it would be difficult to reverse the masking if a game changer, such as delta, did occur.