Writer: Siena Iwasaki Milbauer
Well folks, here we are. It is month 18-ish of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. We have made amazing progress thanks to the unprecedented creation and rollout of life-saving COVID-19 vaccines. Every person who gets vaccinated makes our communities safer and healthier.
Unfortunately, we’re not totally out of the COVID-19 woods yet. Vaccine accessibility isn’t equal worldwide and many countries are suffering from devastating third and fourth waves of COVID-19, in part due to lack of vaccine accessibility. And in the United States and beyond, we are also suffering from a plague of misinformation that is causing folks to make decisions that jeopardize the safety of themselves, their loved ones, and their communities.
Out of all the threats to our progress against COVID-19, variants might be the most alarming. That’s why, in this first installment of our multi-part pandemic progress update series, we’re looking at all things variants.
You’ve probably heard of COVID-19 variants, especially the delta variant. But what exactly are variants? Why are they dangerous? And how can we protect ourselves and our communities from COVID-19 variants?
COVID-19 is a virus. Viruses naturally and constantly mutate as they spread from person to person. This creates new versions of the virus which are called variants. Most variants are not something to be worried about. But sometimes, a virus will mutate so that it becomes stronger, more transmissible, and/or more dangerous. Then, it is time to pay attention to that particular variant, which might be labelled a variant of concern.
There have been several COVID-19 variants of concern during this pandemic, including alpha, beta, and gamma. Of course, the variant that is currently causing the most problems is delta.
What makes delta different from the original version of COVID-19 is that it is much more contagious, spreading more easily and more quickly from person to person. The good news is that COVID-19 vaccines still offer great protection against delta. It is possible to get infected with delta after being vaccinated, in what is known as a breakthrough case, but these cases are rare. And even when vaccinated folks do get infected, vaccines do a great job protecting people from the worst side effects and outcomes of COVID-19.
Unfortunately, unvaccinated folks can become very ill if they catch delta, and vaccinated and unvaccinated people alike can spread delta to others. That’s why delta has thrown a serious wrench into reopening plans and our hopes for returning to “normal.” This new, more contagious variant requires us to take more safety precautions, like masking and social distancing, to keep ourselves and others safe and healthy.
Not only will stopping the spread of delta prevent illness, it will also give COVID-19 less chances to mutate into new and potentially even more dangerous variant versions. Each person who doesn’t get infected is a win not just for that person, but for all our communities.
–Get Vaccinated!: Vaccines remain our best tool against COVID-19 and all its variants. Vaccines protect us from the worst effects of COVID-19 and protect our communities from more COVID-19 spread.
-Mask up and stay smart: As we work to contain delta, public health experts recommend that all folks, vaccinated or unvaccinated, mask up indoors. Masking up is the responsible, smart thing to do while we’re dealing with the hyper-contagious delta variant. Consider masking up outdoors if you are in a large crowd as well. You may also want to be more mindful of attending big gatherings or other potential high-spread events.
-Push back against misinformation: Does your grandma think that vaccines are scary? Did you see something on Instagram about COVID-19 that doesn’t ring right? Unfortunately, vaccine and COVID-19 misinformation is everywhere. But we can all do our part to right the ship by having compassionate conversations with our loved ones and standing up against lies when we see them on social media. Speak up!
It’s frustrating to feel like we are taking steps back from our reopening plans because of delta, but we all know what to do to keep ourselves and our communities safe. After all, we’ve had a lot of practice all year. Too much, really! But we truly are making meaningful progress. As more and more of the world gets vaccinated, COVID-19 is losing ground. It’s up to us to step up and make smart, caring decisions to keep everyone safe while vaccines do their job. Let’s do this!
Sources:
Bollinger, Robert, Ray, Stuart, “New Variant of Coronavirus: What You Should Know”, Johns Hopkins Medicine, 23 July 2021. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/a-new-strain-of-coronavirus-what-you-should-know. Accessed 13 Aug 2021.
Hinnant, Lori, Cheng, Maria, Ghosal, Aniruddha, “Vaccine inequity: Inside the cutthroat race to secure doses”, AP News, 18 July 2021. https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-vaccine-inequality-dac9c07b324e29d3597037b8dc1d908a. Accessed 12 Aug 2021.
Katella, Kathy, “5 Things to Know About the Delta Variant”, Yale Medicine, 13 Aug 2021. https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/5-things-to-know-delta-variant-covid. Accessed 13 Aug 2021.
Liao, Joshua, “Why Vaccinated People Should Wear Masks Indoors For the Foreseeable Future”, Forbes, 30 July 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/coronavirusfrontlines/2021/07/30/why-vaccinated-people-should-wear-masks-indoors-for-the-foreseeable-future/?sh=757417af7543 Accessed 13 Aug 2021.
Miller, Sara, “Delta variant is ‘greatest threat’ to eliminating Covid in U.S., Fauci says”, NBC News, 22 June 2021. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/delta-variant-greatest-threat-eliminating-covid-u-s-fauci-says-n1271933. Accessed 12 Aug 2021.
Richert, Catherine, Associated Press, “Minnesota officials release data on rare breakthrough COVID cases”, MPR News, 10 Aug 2021. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/08/10/minnesota-logs-5600-breakthrough-covid19-cases-57-deaths. Accessed 13 Aug 2021.
Wetsman, Nicole, “COVID-19 misinformation is increasing amid US virus surge”, The Verge, 10 Aug 2021. https://www.theverge.com/22618249/covid-misinformation-surge-delta-russia-vaccine. Accessed 12 Aug 2021.
Keep an eye out for future installments of our Pandemic Progress Update series!
& check out our special New Narratives podcast episode “COVID-19 Community Vaccination Stories, #WeCanDoThis” to hear from Minnesotan Asian youth on their vaccination experiences. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!