Delta variant is cause for concern as health officials push for vaccines

CHARLOTTE, NC – Health officials are issuing a wake-up call as the Delta variant spreads through the Carolinas.

“He hasn’t disappeared. It’s not going to go away, ”said a woman at a Pineville mall.

For many, the pandemic continues as they take precautions.

“I always try to stay away from people, to wash my hands. I do everything I can, ”continued the client.

The Delta variant now accounts for 83% of cases nationwide and is leading to an increase in local hospitalizations.

“We don’t want to see tragedies. We don’t want people to decide to get the vaccine until something bad happens to them or someone they love, ”said Dr David Priest of Novant Health.

Dr Priest says they are seeing more Covid patients in every hospital in Novant. Fifteen percent of patients need ventilators. The average age is in the mid-forties. And 99% of hospitalizations concern unvaccinated people.

“The time to get vaccinated is now. This is really the only way to slow the spread of these new, more contagious variants, ”said Dr Priest.

Priest says young people are still lagging behind when it comes to immunization rates.

“More commonly now there is almost apathy. There is apathy especially among millennials and Generation Z, where they just don’t see it as a threat to them, ”Dr Priest said.

Health officials say children wearing masks at school may be key to stopping the spread this fall.

“The idea is that, because children are not vaccinated, when they go back to school, we have to do everything possible to reduce transmission there,” said Dr Amina Ahmed of Atrium Health.

She says that although most children do not have severe disease from Covid, they still have high transmission rates.

“Because adults are vaccinated, 20-25% of all cases in the United States, if you look at them in the last two or three weeks, are in children,” Dr Ahmed explained.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is expected to make an announcement regarding Covid on Wednesday afternoon.