[ad_1]
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) – The CDC has started investigating the Delta variant in Mesa County, which has spread rapidly in Mesa County and Colorado state over the past month.
State epidemiologist Dr Rachel Herlihy was also at Mesa County Public Health earlier this week to help with the investigation. We are still awaiting the results of the CDC investigation.
The delta variant, originally identified in India, is still so new, so not much is known about it yet. A CDC team arrived in Mesa County this week to investigate the “how and why” behind the rapid spread in western Colorado.
Mesa County saw the first case of the delta variant in early May and is ranked number one of the highest confirmed cases of the delta variant in the entire state of Colorado.
“To date, we have seen 314 cases of the delta variant here in Mesa County,” said Heidi Dragoo, manager of the Mesa County Public Health Epidemiology Program. “Our peak week for activity so far was the very last week of May where we had 75 cases reported during that week. We know the activity is on the rise, so we are seeing a lot of transmission of this delta variant in our county. “
Mesa County Public Health tells us that our community is experiencing a very high number of hospitalizations, likely due to the delta variant. As the variant has been proven to be more contagious and causes more severe symptoms than the original variant of COVID-19.
“We’re seeing a lot of activity due to the delta variant here in Mesa County,” Dragoo said. “We are actually the county with the most delta variant activity in the state of Colorado. El Paso County is right behind us. Colorado, as a state, also has the second largest delta variant activity. the highest I believe after the state of Missouri, so we know that activity in our state is largely driven by the activity that we see here in Mesa. ”
Pfizer vaccine is around 79% effective against the delta variant, according to a new study in Scotland. While the Pfizer vaccine is widely known to be 95% effective against the original strain.
“A new study in Scotland has found that the delta variant carries almost double the risk of hospitalizations when we compare the delta variant and our original COVID-19 variant,” said Stefany Busch, public health communications coordinator at the Mesa County. “We know the transmissibility or how contagious the delta variant is is just over 50% more, which is why we are seeing it. It’s in our community and it’s spreading fast.
According to Mesa County Public Health, only 40% of Mesa County residents are fully immunized. Epidemiology experts believe the likely cause of the surge in our county is a combination of low vaccination rates, coupled with a highly transmissible variant.
About 90% of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Colorado are unvaccinated, CDC says
“One thing we do know about the delta variant is that it tends to cause people to have more symptoms of COVID and potentially have more serious illness. Looking at our recent data, we know that approximately 90% of our COVID cases that tested positive for the delta variant had not been vaccinated, ”Dragoo said. “So we know that the vaccine is still our best tool and our best defense against serious illnesses caused by COVID. “
Mesa County Public Health says the best defense we have against the new delta variant is vaccination. They are urging everyone in Mesa County to get vaccinated now that it is so widely available.
To locate a vaccination clinic near you in Mesa County, visit https://health.mesacounty.us/vaccine-provider-list-mesa-county or call 1-800-232-0233.
Copyright 2021 KJCT. All rights reserved.
.
[ad_2]
Pictures Credit