The Delta variant of COVID-19 has prompted many public health officials and municipalities around the world to reinstate mask mandates and reconsider lifting pandemic restrictions.
In May, U.S. health officials said that fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear masks, even indoors. This piece of guidance set the stage for a gradual reopening that continues to gain momentum.
But as the Delta variant spreads worldwide, including the U.S., the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) said last week that both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated people should wear masks to stop the virus from spreading.
The agency’s rationale was that vaccinated people should wear masks, especially in poorly ventilated settings indoors, as they might pass the virus along to others.
Countries and cities soon followed the W.H.O.’s guidance.
Israel recently reinstated an indoor mask mandate that it dropped two weeks ago, and Los Angeles County public health officials also reinstated an indoor mask mandate.
Some countries went even further and reinstated social distancing measures and lockdown restrictions.
In Australia, which recorded more than 30,000 cases of the coronavirus and 910 deaths since the pandemic’s beginning, four major cities are under lockdown and one-in-two Australians have been ordered to stay at home.
Similar lockdowns have taken place this week in South Africa and in a handful of Asian countries.
What is the Delta variant of COVID-19?
The “Delta variant,” also known by its scientific name as “B.1.617.2,” was a strain of the coronavirus first identified in October in Maharashtra, India.
The strain was first named the “Delta variant” by the World Health Organization after the global health agency implemented a naming system based on Greek letters this month.
Although it is just one out of many variants that are spreading around during the pandemic, World Health Organization officials have called it “a variant of concern.”
The Delta variant also has split into several sub-variants, including one that is widespread in the United Kingdom.
Do vaccines work against the Delta variant?
If you are fully vaccinated, your chances of getting the Delta variant strain of COVID-19 are significantly decreased.
According to The Washington Post, which cited data from the United Kingdom, nearly all serious cases in the country are among the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.
According to medical experts such as former head of the Food and Drug Administration Dr. Scott Gottlieb, all the COVID-19 vaccines work against the Delta variant.
“The mRNA vaccine seems to be highly effective, two doses of that vaccine against this variant. The viral vector vaccines from J&J (Johnson & Johnson) and AstraZeneca also appear to be effective, about 60% effective. The mRNA vaccines are about 88% effective,” Gottlieb said, referring to the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines.
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