Doctors explain how the delta variant can infect those fully vaccinated, leading to an increase in hospitalizations

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San Antonio — The number of COVID-19 Delta cases is rising in San Antonio, with a 66% increase in hospitalizations in the past week, according to city data.

The area is also seeing breakouts, resulting in a positive COVID-19 test result for a fully vaccinated person. An internal CDC document notes that a vaccinated person who becomes infected can transmit the virus just as easily as an uninfected person.

“The previous variant, one person gives it to maybe two or three people. The virus with this variant is in the range of giving it eight to nine people. So it’s really like a different virus. It’s contagious,” said Dr. Jan Patterson, an infectious disease specialist at UT Health San Antonio. Much more”.

According to the CDC, the COVID-19 Delta variant can spread as easily as chickenpox. Its high viral load and transmission rate is what makes it so dangerous.

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“There are a lot of viruses in the upper respiratory tract, which makes it more transmissible, which is why even fully vaccinated people can now get mild infections,” Patterson said.

Although vaccinated people can become infected, a vaccine is still the best way to protect yourself, said Rita Espinosa, chief of epidemiology at the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District.

“(The vaccine) is there to protect you from severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths, which is the message we’ve been saying all along — which is that it may not prevent you from getting COVID, but hopefully you will have a milder disease,” Espinosa said.

She added that 95% of hospitalizations in the San Antonio area were for people who had not been vaccinated.

The CDC has restored its recommendation that masks be worn regardless of vaccination status.

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An investigation into what scientists believe is a coronavirus outbreak in Provincetown, Massachusetts, has infected nearly 900 people, 74% of whom have been vaccinated.

“Unfortunately, we are in a new phase of this pandemic. That means we need to wear our masks indoors, and that means you need to get vaccinated if you haven’t already,” Patterson said.

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