Covid-19: Delta Variant Appears to Spread as Easily as Chickenpox

The delta variant of coronavirus is as contagious as chickenpox, where an infected person can infect an average of eight to nine more people. It can be spread almost equally through vaccinated and non-vaccinated people. This type is causing serious illness.

A report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the information came from the Washington Post. This information was highlighted in a PowerPoint slide at an internal meeting of the CDC. All the new data has been highlighted in that PowerPoint presentation. It said officials had to acknowledge that "the fight has changed".

Washington Post reports that the presentation highlights the speed with which US public health agencies are gaining momentum in vaccinating people, wearing masks, maintaining social distance, and taking preventative measures.

Citing the results of a new study, it said that delta variants could also be spread through people who have been vaccinated with the coronavirus. To encourage people to get vaccinated, the message needs to be streamlined, as the highly contagious delta strain is behaving almost like a new coronavirus, spreading from one person to another even faster than the Ebola or common cold virus. There is currently no alternative to vaccination to protect against this virus.

CNN spoke to CDC director Dr Rochelle Velensky, who confirmed the documents. “I think people need to understand now that we are not weeping crocodile tears here,” he said. This is a very important issue. It is one of the most contagious viruses we have ever known of.

The Washington Post quoted a US government health official as saying that the new study was based on information that the CDC issued a directive last Tuesday requiring people to wear masks in public gatherings within four walls, whether they were vaccinated or not.

The CDC director told CNN that everyone including students, teachers and staff of the educational institution should wear masks now. He personally briefed members of the US Congress on the results of the new study.

CDC data show that the original strain of coronavirus was not as contagious as the delta strain.

Researchers call this virus's ability to infect 'R Zero'. Valensky told CNN that there are not many viruses with eight or nine levels of R-Zero.

CDC research has shown that if a person who has been vaccinated becomes infected with the delta type, he or she can carry the same amount of the virus in people who have not been vaccinated.

Dr Robert Watcher, chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said he was "deeply concerned" about the study.

This data has now made the work of the CDC even more difficult. They now need to publicize the proven effectiveness of the vaccine and how effective it is in preventing serious illness and death. But at the same time, it must be acknowledged that even after being vaccinated, people can become infected with the virus and become somewhat ill, and the virus can be spread through vaccinated people. As a result, restrictions apply equally to everyone.

A slide from that meeting showed that older people were more at risk of hospitalization and death than young people, whether they were vaccinated or not. Another shows that of the 162 million vaccinated citizens in the United States, 35,000 are diagnosed with symptomatic infections each week.

The CDC document also states that the vaccine is not very effective for patients with weakened immune systems and for residents of nursing homes. As a result, another additional dose of vaccine may be needed for this at-risk group.

People may lose confidence in the vaccine if they learn of the possibility of becoming infected even after being vaccinated. That is why the CDC document emphasizes the need to determine new strategies for communicating the disease.

Walter Orenstein, head of the Emory Vaccine Center, said the bottom line is that when vaccinated people are infected with the delta type of coronavirus, the amount of virus in their bodies is the same as that of people who have not been vaccinated. But documents show that vaccinated people are much safer. The vaccine protects against more than 90 percent of serious illnesses, but may be less effective in preventing infection. Therefore, even if vaccinated, the virus can spread among the citizens.

According to CDC documents, vaccination reduces the risk of serious illness or death by 10 times and the risk of spreading the infection by three times. But infectious disease experts say the new research makes the goal of achieving "hard immunity" more difficult through vaccines.

The CDC says that if the fight changes, so does the calculation of success and failure.