Delta COVID variant reaches eastern Oregon

THE GREAT – The delta variant has arrived in eastern Oregon.

And with vaccination rates in the region lagging behind the state, the question for health experts is not whether the latest and most contagious strain of COVID-19 will spread in communities, but what will be the scale of the epidemic.

“It’s not a question for unvaccinated people if they are going to catch the virus,” said Dr. Jon Hitzman, Umatilla County public health official. “That’s when they’re going to get it and how sick they’re going to get.”

The state has so far reported 14 cases in the Delta and three in Region 9, an area that encompasses Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Baker and Malheur counties.

Each of these cases has been reported in Umatilla County, according to Dr. Bill Messer, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Division of Infectious Diseases at Oregon Health & Science University.

But experts say it’s almost certainly an undercoverage, as only a small percentage of cases are sequenced to confirm if they’re delta. In Umatilla County, only 16 of 116 positive cases over a two-week period in early June were sequenced to confirm whether they were delta.

Union County faces a similar situation. According to Carrie Brogoitti, a public health administrator at the La Grande Human Development Center, the county sequences 3 to 5% of positive cases.

“The short answer is that we, collectively the state, want to sequence absolutely every specimen we can get our hands on,” Messer said. “But there are logistical challenges for this, especially for the counties in eastern Oregon and the rural hospitals.”

According to Messer, the state is two weeks behind in its sequencing. This means that the cases reported since June 15 have not been confirmed as delta or not.

“There is a lag there, and a lot of cases in those lags,” Messer said.

Cases have declined across Oregon in recent weeks as the state hit its goal of 70% of residents vaccinated. Meanwhile, some less-vaccinated eastern Oregon counties, including Baker and Umatilla counties, have reported large spikes in cases.

Umatilla County – where nearly 33% of residents are vaccinated – has reported some of the highest daily case counts statewide in recent weeks. From July 6 to 9, Umatilla County reported 67 cases. And since mid-June, the county has reported at least 260 cases, according to county health data.

“We’re actually curious whether this increase in the number of cases is due to the delta variant,” Messer said. “I would be very surprised if it didn’t.”

What you need to know about delta

The delta variant, first identified in India in December 2020, is the most “suitable” variant of all the coronavirus mutations, experts say. All viruses mutate, and as they do, they become better suited to attach themselves to a host. But many experts say those vaccinated don’t have to fear the variant.

Early research suggests that the delta variant is 50% more transmissible than the alpha variant, a strain from the UK that is 50% more transmissible than the original coronavirus strain from Wuhan, China. This means that the variant is two to three times more transmissible than the original strain.

The delta variant has now spread to 96 countries. In India and Britain, two of the first countries to report the delta variant, 90% of current COVID-19 cases are delta variants, according to the New York Times. The spike prompted leaders around the world to reinstate stay-at-home orders and restrictions on public gatherings, outdoor dining and other practices to prevent outbreaks.

And due to the rise, the World Health Organization is encouraging residents, including those who have been vaccinated, to wear masks in public until vaccination rates rise and cases of COVID-19 decrease.

The variant now accounts for about one in four infections in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the CDC maintains that people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 do not need to wear masks.

Experts say it is still too early to say for sure whether the variant is creating more severe symptoms, although the arrival of the strain in places like Los Angeles County has led to an increase in hospitalizations and prompted the service. to recommend even to vaccinated residents to wear face protection.

The variant hits unvaccinated areas of the country particularly hard, including some southern states. That’s what worries some health experts for eastern Oregon, where three of the state’s five least vaccinated counties are located.

And with the lifting of its pandemic restrictions by Oregon last week, health officials are increasingly concerned that cases will rise again as masks come off and major summer events. are in class.

“I want to be optimistic that everyone has learned a lot from the past year and that it will help prevent the spread of the disease,” said Alisha Lundgren, deputy director of public health for Umatilla County. “But even though the restrictions have started to ease, COVID has increased in our community. “

Lundgren said the number of cases tracing back to social gatherings had recently increased.

“This is the first time we see this since the closures because hardly anyone had any gatherings,” she said. “It’s on the rise, and I think what’s going to be tricky, and it’ll be good to look at the variant data, but the other piece that’s in place for our case numbers over the next month or so is that everything is open again. “

Vaccines help protect against the delta variant

Experts agree that all available vaccines offer protection against the variant. A study by Public Health England has shown that the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine is 88% effective in eliminating the risk of contracting the delta variant of COVID-19. In early studies, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines were also shown to be effective against the variant.

Like all vaccines, COVID-19 vaccines do not provide perfect immunity against the virus, and there is preliminary evidence that the delta variant is better able to evade vaccine protection. Even so, breakthrough cases are extremely rare, experts say, and those vaccinated still have better protection against delta and are less likely to contract a severe case.

“We know that if you are fully vaccinated and contract the virus, your immune system is already ready for it,” Hitzman said. “So even if you are infected you will not get so sick.”

He added: “There are a lot of hardened people who don’t want to be vaccinated. And yet, this is the only thing we have to fight against at the moment.

With counties in eastern Oregon having reopened and cases gradually increasing, Lundgren said she was monitoring the situation with caution.

“This is the moment when we ask what’s going to happen now that everything is open,” she said. “And certainly bringing the delta variant out in a very aggressive way in our community wouldn’t help.”

–Carlos Fuentes and Bryce Dole / EO Media