COVID-19 comes roaring back: America grapples with the Delta variant
Lesson summary
Hi there, I’m Jeff in Chicago; JR is here, too. This is lesson 390 of Plain English. The full lesson is available at PlainEnglish.com/390. Plain English, as you know by now, is your best way to upgrade your English using current events and trending topics.
It’s not good news today, I’m afraid . The new coronavirus mutation, the Delta variant, is sweeping through the United States just when we thought we were out of the woods . Just when we thought the danger was over. And that, by the way, is today’s expression: out of the woods. We have a quote of the week in the second half of the audio lesson. Today’s video lesson is about a unique way of expressing disappointment, so check that out at PlainEnglish.com/390. But for now, we’ll dive straight into the audio lesson.
Delta variant threatens COVID-19 recovery
For a moment, it seemed like we were out of the woods . Coronavirus infections were plummeting and vaccination rates rising. Big cities, which had the strictest social distancing mandates, started rolling back their rules. But then the “Delta variant” of SARS-COV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, began infecting populations even with high rates of vaccination, changing the landscape 18 months into the fight against this new disease.
Viruses adapt and evolve over time ; they have the same basic characteristics, but the different mutations can act differently. The World Health Organization classifies and names coronavirus variants by Greek alphabet letter so that the alpha variant was first identified in Britain, beta in South Africa, gamma in Brazil, and delta in India. This is the variant that is now tearing through the United States.
The American Centers for Disease Control, or CDC, published a report showing that this new variant spread much faster than the initial virus and the first identified variants. It’s also more intense. A patient’s viral load is a measure of how much virus is in that patient; it’s a measure of intensity. The higher the viral load, the more of the virus a person has inside their body, which is bad news for them. But a person with a high viral load will also shed more of the virus, meaning that others are more likely to catch it, which is bad news for the rest of us.
Plus, patients that catch the delta variant have higher viral loads than patients with earlier versions of the virus had. And not just a little more either. The delta variant has 1,000 times more of the virus than previous variants. Think about that, 1,000 times more of a deadly virus that we know very little about in terms of the long-term effects, including the syndrome known as “long Covid.”
So, the higher viral load means it spreads much faster. Some researchers compare it to Ebola, chickenpox, or the common cold, which are some of the fastest-spreading diseases we’ve seen. This is the variant that ripped through India, overwhelming the country’s healthcare system earlier this year. It is now the dominant strain in the U.S. At the beginning of July, here in America, about half of all sequenced positive coronavirus tests were the Delta variant; by the end of the month, it was 83 percent.
The data shows that it’s far, far worse in population centers that have low rates of vaccination. At the end of July, for example, only about half of America’s population was fully vaccinated despite the widespread availability of the vaccine. But some states have vaccination rates as low as one-third of the community, and pockets of those states have vaccination rates even lower. As a result , people in those areas are much more susceptible to the disease. And hospitals in some states are already at capacity; they’re re-living the nightmare of the original wave in 2020 before we had a vaccine.
Mind you, vaccines provide good, but not perfect, protection against Delta. A “breakthrough case,” is an example of a fully vaccinated person catching COVID-19. There were always going to be cases of vaccinated people getting the disease, that is the simple truth of vaccines. But the Delta variant has led to more breakthrough cases than first anticipated, including among high-profile individuals like Olympic athletes and members of the White House staff.
A vaccinated person that catches the Delta variant initially has much milder symptoms than an unvaccinated person. And the vaccines are 96 percent effective at preventing hospitalizations, so they remain the best tool for controlling the impact of the virus. But they are not the miracle cure some people had hoped and expected them to be. For example, a vaccinated person may catch COVID in a breakthrough case, exhibit no symptoms, but still unknowingly spread the disease to others, or suffer from COVID-related issues later in life.
As a result , governments are now revising their guidance on mask-wearing and social distancing even for vaccinated people. Los Angeles re-introduced its indoor mask mandate in late July. New York is encouraging, but not requiring, people to wear masks indoors. Louisiana, which has been hard hit, reintroduced its indoor mask mandate even for vaccinated people. The CDC recommended indoor mask-wearing for anyone in a COVID hotspot or near people who might be vulnerable to the disease.
However, there is another danger in the mix, and that is public perception. The new advice may give an exhausted public whiplash; after being reassured of the vaccines’ effectiveness and after taking off masks in time for summer in the Northern Hemisphere, now vaccinated people are being told that they can still catch COVID and spread the virus to others.
So, public health leaders must walk a tightrope of following scientific evidence as it changes, but also maintain confidence in their recommendations to the public. Every time they backtrack on advice, they risk losing confidence in the eyes of a public that is very particular about their freedoms and what they choose to do with their body. Even when it comes to a simple mask or a shot.
But the severity of Delta, especially in areas with low vaccination rates, is starting to change some minds. A popular radio talk show host who had been skeptical of vaccination was hospitalized with COVID-19; his family is now urging his listeners to get the shot. A lot of people who are hospitalized with COVID-19 were against vaccination before and have since changed their tune, urging friends and family to learn from their example. And more political leaders who once took pleasure in resisting the vaccine are now rolling up their sleeves and encouraging their followers to do the same in very public ways.
The best investment in the world
This is such a reminder of how shortsighted the rich world’s vaccination policy has been compared to that of the developing world. There is no better investment the richer countries could make than in public health through giving vaccines to everyone in the world, no matter who they are or where they live. And if a virus spreads anywhere, it has a chance to mutate and infect everyone regardless of where they live.
So, the rich world can’t insulate itself and say, we got this, we’re vaccinated, good luck to everyone else. Because the virus will change and adapt, and it will puncture the protection of any current vaccine. There is no better way to spend a dollar in 2021 than on vaccinating any person who wants the shot. Europe, Britain, and America say all the right words about this, but they aren’t putting the muscle behind the current global vaccination program. I hope they do soon, or we’ll have more and more variants to deal with and we’ll go through all 24 letters in the Greek alphabet.
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