An estimate from the Financial Times states that, as of Wednesday, the Delta coronavirus version may cause 31% of all coronavirus cases in the United States.
CDC estimates from the past put the share of cases at approximately 10% as of June 5 and roughly 2.7% on May 22.
The Financial Times estimate, relying on available sequencing data, suggests that the number of Delta-variant-based cases in the US tripled over the past 11 days.
The CDC hasn’t yet released an updated estimate regarding the Delta-variant cases after the June 5 one.
Dr Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, warned last week that the novel variant might soon be the dominant one in the United States.
On Sunday, Scott Gottlieb, the former FDA chief, warned that the novel strain might lead to an increase in cases during the fall, even if 3/4 of all eligible Americans got vaccinated.
The Delta variant was first sequenced in India and is scientifically known as B.1.617.2. It seems to be roughly 60% more transmissible than the Alpha variant, which, for the moment, is the most dominant one in the US.
UK data shows that infections with the Delta variant make up approximately 90% of all current coronavirus cases. Also, the Delta variant appears to have the highest risk of hospitalization for unvaccinated people.
The bad news doesn’t end there – Some studies suggest that the Delta variant is likelier to evade the protection provided by partial vaccinations.
Analysis suggests that a single dose of either Pfizer or AstraZeneca shots provide only 33% protection against symptomatic COVID-19 cases of the Delta variant, in contrast to over 88% of other variants.
Henry Lares is still early into his career as tech reporter but has already had his work published in many major publications including Tech Crunch and the Huffington Post. In regards to academics, Henry earned an engineering degree from Apex Technical School. Henry has a passion for emerging technology and covers upcoming products and breakthroughs in science and tech.