By Patrick Magee, The Sun Herald (Tribune News Service)
A day prior to Mississippi’s state health officer announcing that 7 of the state’s children are in intensive care with COVID-19, Dr. Thomas Dobbs pointed out that almost all current cases of the coronavirus in Mississippi are the Delta variant.
Dobbs said in a Tuesday morning tweet that among those 7 children were in ICU, with 2 on life support with ventilators. This comes after he warned Monday that the Delta variant is becoming an increasing problem in Mississippi.
“Pretty much ALL cases in MS are Delta variant right now,” Dobbs said in a post on Twitter on Monday. What is the COVID Delta variant? The Delta variant is considered a greater threat to younger children, according to recent studies.
“A recent study from the United Kingdom showed that children and adults under 50 were 2 1/2 times more likely to become infected with Delta,” Dr. Meltem Yildirim said in a recent report by Yale Medicine. “As older age groups get vaccinated, those who are younger and unvaccinated will be at higher risk of getting COVID-19 with any variant. But Delta seems to be impacting younger age groups more than previous variants.”
There have been 42,981 cases of COVID-19 and three deaths among children under the age of 18 in Mississippi, according to data from the Mississippi Department of Health. All children ages 12 and older are eligible to receive a COVID vaccine in the U.S.
The Delta variant is considered highly transmissible and is quickly becoming the dominant strain across the U.S, but the scientific consensus is that fully vaccinated people have good protection against the variant. The Delta variant was first identified in India, where it has taken a deadly toll, in December of 2020.
The World Health Organization called the strain of the virus “the fastest and fittest.” In mid-June, the CDC labeled Delta as “a variant of concern.”
Dobbs and other health officials are concerned that those who are unvaccinated will face the full brunt of a new wave of infections brought on by the Delta variant.
Dobbs pointed out on Twitter on Monday that the “vast majority of cases/hospitalizations/deaths” are among people who have not been vaccinated. He also said that he’s worried that 7 percent of the recent deaths have come among vaccinated people.
“We are allowing too much circulating Delta to reach our most vulnerable,” Dobbs said. “PLEASE get second shot! We know 1 dose is insufficient for Delta.”
New guidelines from MS Department of Health On July 9, the Mississippi Department of Health announced new recommendations that include:
- All Mississippi residents under the age of 65 avoid indoor mass gatherings regardless of vaccination status.
- All residents with chronic underlying medical conditions avoid indoor mass gatherings. — All children 12 years and older receive the COVID vaccination.
- All unvaccinated people wear a mask when indoors in public settings.
The Sun Herald on Tuesday evening issued this correction to the story: Mississippi’s top health officer, Dr. Thomas Dobbs, released incorrect information in a tweet Tuesday morning. On Tuesday evening, he acknowledged the mistake, saying that a hospital had included incorrect COVID-19 stats in its report to the Mississippi Department of Health. His initial post said that there were 12 children in intensive care with COVID-19 with 10 on ventilators. Dobbs now says the correct information is seven children in ICU with two on ventilators. This story has been updated to reflect the correct data.
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