As the delta variant of the coronavirus continues to spread around our great nation, a number of health experts have begun to sound the alarm on what this could mean for our vaccination efforts.
According to many in the field of epidemiology, the delta variant flourished within the unvaccinated population and is now bringing heavy viral loads to both the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike.
Worse still, it appears as though the vaccine efficiency that we’ve become accustomed to is no longer the reality.
Three studies published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that protection against the coronavirus given by vaccines declined in the midsummer months when the more contagious delta variant rose to dominance in the United States.
And this means that more shots are coming.
Data from these studies persuaded the Biden administration to develop a plan for additional doses to bolster the immune systems of people vaccinated months earlier. The Biden administration will begin offering coronavirus booster shots to fully vaccinated adults who received the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots the week of Sept. 20, top health officials announced Wednesday, after concluding that a third shot is needed to fight off waning immunity.
“Examining numerous cohorts through the end of July and early August, three points are now very clear,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky said at a White House covid-19 news briefing Wednesday. “First, vaccine-induced protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection begins to decrease over time. Second, vaccine effectiveness against severe disease, hospitalization and death remains relatively high. And third, vaccine effectiveness is generally decreased against the delta variant.”
The news will certainly cause an uproar among Americans who’ve chosen to get a vaccine on account of their personal beliefs, many of whom argued ferociously against vaccines in the first place.
