New Orleans’ top health official has issued a warning about the delta variant

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The chief of the New Orleans Department of Health warned Tuesday that the delta variant could jeopardize the progress the city has made in recent months. The solution is to get more people vaccinated, Jennifer Avigno said, “In Louisiana, 99 percent of the deaths since mid-January, since vaccines began being provided, are for people who are not immunized.” In early July, the city awarded $3.9 million in federal funding to increase vaccination efforts. Avegno said the Department of Health is working with local health systems and other groups, such as the Resilience Force, to interview people in the communities where they live. “We didn’t get 100, but if we get 20 or 25, that’s really a win,” said Avigno. Latania Sylvester, director of the Resilience Force in Louisiana, told WDSU that within seven months, her organization had knocked on 14,000 doors. “We have those distinct conversations, you know, persuasive individuals,” Sylvester said. “(We) dispel some of the myths, misinformation and misinformation out there and then engage them to see how this is important not only to you and your family but to our community.” Avigno stressed that these efforts will be essential in keeping the number of new coronavirus cases low and preventing the further spread of the delta variable. Currently, the city has a positive rate of 1.6%, which Avegno said is likely to rise in the coming days. “We’ve come a long way, but it’s unbelievable to go back now,” Avigno said. The city has a better chance of getting more natural falls, which already has several other major festivals and events planned. “We all like there to be big events that don’t require a certain degree of mitigation and before Delta, I was probably a little more confident that we would get there,” Avigno said. “We really need to see what happens with Delta.” To see a list of upcoming vaccination events in the New Orleans area, click here.

New Orleans –

The chief of the New Orleans Department of Health warned Tuesday that the delta variant could jeopardize the progress the city has made in recent months.

Dr. Jennifer Avgino said the solution is to vaccinate more people.

“In Louisiana, 99% of the deaths since mid-January, since vaccines became available, are for people who are not immunized,” Avigno said.

In early July, the city awarded $3.9 million in federal funding to increase vaccination efforts. Avegno said the Department of Health is working with local health systems and other groups, such as the Resilience Force, to interview people in the communities where they live.

“We didn’t get 100, but if we get 20 or 25, that’s really a win,” said Avigno.

Latania Sylvester, director of the Resilience Force in Louisiana, told WDSU that within seven months, her organization had knocked on 14,000 doors.

“We have those distinct conversations, you know, persuasive individuals,” Sylvester said. “(We) dispel some of the myths, misinformation and misinformation out there, and then get them to know how important this is not only to you and your family, but to our community.”

Avegno stressed that these efforts will be essential in keeping the number of novel coronavirus cases low and preventing further spread of the delta variant. Currently, the city has a positive rate of 1.6%, which Avegno said is likely to rise in the coming days.

“We’ve come a long way, but it wouldn’t make sense to go back now,” Avigno said.

If we go back off the track now, she said, the city has a better chance of a more natural fall, which already has several other major festivals and events planned.

“We would all like there to be big events that don’t require a certain degree of mitigation and before Delta, I was probably a little more confident that we would get there,” said Avigno. “We really need to see what happens with Delta.”

To see a list of upcoming vaccination events in the New Orleans area, click here.

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