WHO Says Delta Is The Fastest and Fittest Covid Variant and Will 'Pick Off' Most Vulnerable

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Tue Jun 22, 2021, 04:50 AM - Edit history (4)

Source: CNBC

The highly contagious delta variant is the fastest and fittest Coronavirus strain yet, and it will "pick off" the most vulnerable people, especially in places with low Covid-19 vaccination rates, World Health Organization officials warned Monday.

"Delta, first identified in India, has the potential to be more lethal because it's more efficient in the way it transmits between humans and it will eventually find those vulnerable individuals who will become severely ill, have to be hospitalized and potentially die," Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO's health emergencies program said during a news conference.

Ryan said world leaders and public health officials can help defend the most vulnerable through the donation and distribution of Covid vaccines. "We can protect those vulnerable people, those front-line workers," Ryan said, "and the fact that we haven't, as Director- General [Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus] has said, again and again, is a catastrophic moral failure at a global level."

The WHO said Friday that delta is becoming the dominant variant of the disease worldwide. The agency declared delta a "variant of concern" last month. A variant can be labeled "of concern" if it has been shown to be more contagious, more deadly, or more resistant to current vaccines and treatments, according to the health organization.
Delta is now replacing alpha, the highly contagious variant that swept across Europe and later the U.S. earlier this year, Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said in a recent interview...

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/21/covid-delta-who-says-variant-is-the-fastest-and-fittest-and-will-pick-off-most-vulnerable-.html

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- Growing concern over Covid Delta variant, June 21, 2021. NBC News.
There is growing concern over the Covid delta variant, which is contributing to a rise in infections in 8 states. Experts believe it will become the dominant strain in the U.S.
As it spreads, several regions and communities remain unvaccinated.

- Europe Watches With Worry As Delta Variant Spreads Fast In UK and Lisbon, Portugal https://www.democraticunderground.com/114225664

[NoRethugFriends]

1. All sympathy to those in countries where the vaccine is not available.

Zero sympathy to those here who refuse it and get sick or die.

[babylonsister]

2. I can't muster any sympathy for the knuckleheads either. nt

[Hugh_Lebowski]

4. If it makes you feel any better, your attitude is still kinder than mine ;) nt

[niyad]

5. and yours is still kinder than mine.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

6. Oooh ... does it involve dark magic rituals with their corpses?

If so, you might have me on this one

[niyad]

11. well, I don't do dark magic. But I do have cocktails with Nemesis on occasion. . .

[Rural_Progressive]

21. Personally I'm grateful for those who refuse to get vaccinated

I consider them our "bird dogs", they're going out front of us, and if there's any virus around they'll flush it out, get sick, and let us know we need to return to more stringent behavior for awhile.

The folks in my neck of the woods who have gotten their degrees in Virology from YouTube U are doing me, my family, my friends, and my neighbors a huge favor. Our very own early warning devices.

Bless their hearts.

[flibbitygiblets]

25. "degrees in Virology from YouTube U"

I also liked how Bill Marr put it "taking medical advice from your dumbest cousin on Facebook",

[dixiegrrrrl]

27. Unfortunately, they contaminate innocent victims before hand.

their kids.
who then spread to other kids thus other families.

[Initech]

28. I won't miss them.

[lagomorph777]

31. Stubbornness is the biggest vulnerability of all, here in the USA.

[roamer65]

3. October is coming.

About 4 weeks after they throw all kids back into in-person learning.

[dixiegrrrrl]

30. There was a study that showed closing schools was best way to stop virus.

Michael Lewis writes, in his new book Premonition, about the studies done during Obama's
pandamic planning.
One study showed that nothing was more effective against stopping an epidemic than any other measure, including masks, distancing, etc.

which is why the Republican death party wants them open.

[myohmy2]

7. problem?

...the gubmint needs to work diligently to keep ahead of future variants with boosters for us conscientiously vaccinated citizens...

...the unvaccinated may have to die and help decrease the stupid population...

...survival of the fittest...

[LisaL]

8. Evolution in action.

Survival of the fittest.

[ananda]

22. Humans are so crazy.

There is very little rational thinking going on in so
many of us.

[lagomorph777]

32. I suspect events like this in prehistory are what made enough of us smart enough...

to build cities and fly to the moon.

Hopefully, this round will weed out the dumbest among us and help us save democracy.

[littlemissmartypants]

9. Thanks for sharing this, appalachiablue.

Maybe if enough of us post about it folks will heed the warning. I posted about it earlier today and the post continues to get the most disappointing replies. The other thing is that how many are of the "kill the messenger" variety. I thought DU was better than that. I guess denial is a river many more swim in than we realize.

What really bothers me is that if we don't take this variant seriously, we'll be postponing our freedom from this scourge by sloppy prevention and nonchalance.

Not getting both vaccines and continuing to wear masks seem like small prices to pay for actually and truly protecting our loved ones, neighbors and ourselves from the horrible effects of this terrible illness.

I'm going to bookmark both of our posts so six or three or two months from now, I can survey the damage, because there will be damage. I have little doubt.

❤ pants

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215547442

[niyad]

13. As. I wrote recently, I hate wearing masks. But I hate the ignorant, selfish aassholes

who ignore science and refuse to get vaccinated. Because of them, my friends and I, all vaccinated, must continue the protocols. The latest news on the delta variant confirms our choices.

[appalachiablue]

16. Thank you, and agree this is life & death serious.

I'm reviewing these sources- appreciate all the important info.

[Kablooie]

10. I read that you can be infected by just brushing by someone who had the Delta variant.

You don't need to be in a room for a period of time.
It's tremendously infectious.

[maxsolomon]

12. The "Hesitant" will use this variant as support for their position.

It proves the vaccine can't protect you, or something herp derp.

t's faith at this point; you can't dissuade them.

[Grokenstein]

15. Even before this announcement

I remember seeing a tweet by some antivax conspiro-nutter "predicting" that booster shots would be required (no shit, Sherlock) and these boosters would continue to weaken the white race and blah blah blah blah blah fart fart. No matter what happens, these drama-seekers and attention-baiters will continue to smear their crap wherever they're allowed.

[Rhiannon12866]

14. K&R! This is the most important news of the day!

And it needs to be spread far and wide, lives depend on it - this deadly pandemic is far from "over!"

[BumRushDaShow]

17. There is one sad revelation

that many of the "unvaccinated" are actually the "frontline workers". There are hospitals and longterm care facilities nationwide where the staff have refused it. The main excuse is that it is still only approved via an EUA. These were people who were literally at the head of the line for receiving it just after the EUA approval this past winter.

I think many might recall a recent incident among facilities now starting to make it a requirement - i.e., one Houston hospital having a staff walkout - https://abc13.com/houston-methodist-hospital-walkout-covid19-vaccine-requirement-jennifer-bridges-jared-woodfill/10756212/

It's no different here in Philly -

Mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for health care workers can mean hard realities for employers

Philadelphia pediatrician Eric Berger enforced mandatory shots in May after an after-hours karaoke party caused a small outbreak among staff. Six of his 47 staff members walked out.

by Christine Spolar, Kaiser Health News
Published Jun 21, 2021

Christopher Richmond keeps a running tab on how many workers at the ManorCare skilled nursing facility he manages in western Pennsylvania have rolled up their sleeves for a COVID-19 vaccine. Although residents were eager for the shots this year, he’s counted only about 3 in 4 workers vaccinated at any one time. The excuses, among its staff of roughly 100, had a familiar ring: Because COVID-19 vaccines were authorized only for emergency use, some staffers worried about safety. Convenience mattered. In winter, shots were administered at work through a federal rollout. By spring, though, workers had to sign up online through a state program — a time-sucking task.

ManorCare urges every worker to be immunized against COVID-19 but turnover has vexed that effort. Managers at ProMedica, a nonprofit health system that operates ManorCare and senior care facilities in 26 states, faced a workforce conundrum familiar to all manner of providers during the pandemic: how to persuade essential workers to get vaccinated — and in a way that didn’t drive them away. Raises and bonuses, costing millions of dollars, did not move the needle to 100%. Animus toward the vaccine created turmoil for some providers.

Dr. Eric Berger, a pediatrician in Philadelphia who opened his practice more than a dozen years ago, enforced mandatory shots in May and saw six of his 47 staff members walk out. Berger said he worked for months to educate resistant workers. In April, he learned that several, women in their 20s and 30s, had attended a private karaoke party. Within days, four staffers were infected with COVID-19. Berger, who had seen in-office costs for protective equipment soar, then set a deadline for shots. He looks back with steely resolve over the last-minute “I quit” texts he received — and the hassle of finding a new receptionist and billing and medical assistants.

(snip)

Earlier this month, the U.S. Labor Department issued a temporary emergency standard for health care workers, saying they face “grave danger” in the workplace when “less than 100 percent of the workforce is fully vaccinated.” In Pennsylvania, whose population ranks among the oldest according to 2019 census data, statistical snapshots published in April underscored the need for vigilance. Two state agencies overseeing skilled nursing care and personal care homes reported that only half of their workers were vaccinated. COVID-19 was notably devastating to long-term care facilities nationwide in 2020; some of Pennsylvania’s deadliest outbreaks were reported by local media in places shown later to have low staff vaccination rates. The questions and qualms about vaccines came at the end of a deeply distressing pandemic year for health care workers, and facilities are now finding fewer applicants for essential care.

https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine-mandates-health-care-workers-20210621.html

We also have many police and firefighters, let alone current military who are refusing it. There has been much focus on minority group "hesitancy" and little on the very people who are or can be continually exposed to the virus and are in position to spread it to the most vulnerable.

[appalachiablue]

24. Info in those reports is very concerning, thanks for sharing..

Some of it is hard to comprehend, and scary for the workers and residents and patients.

[bucolic_frolic]

18. Natural Selection rules

Slow ancient ancestors were shown the door. They couldn't escape and they couldn't hunt. You swat flies and spiders? Slow ones are easy prey.

I won't call these modern resistors slow or stupid. I call them rigid-minded. They dig in, they don't adjust in the face of new information.

[Owl]

19. I worry about the young unvaccinated children.

[littlemissmartypants]

36. Me too, Owl. They are going to be infected for sure.

Hopefully, the rules for the various variants will stay the same, weak symptoms, quick recovery.

They are at risk of being vectors and infecting family and friends and of course dying. If only we had more respect for them as humans.

❤

[Pobeka]

20. Anyone reading this for God's sake get the jab if you haven't already.

And continue to wear a mask indoors -- (grocery stores, shopping, ...)

Lat July/August will be just like last year in states with low vaccination rates that are fully opened up.

Except this time there will be a lot more deaths.

I am thinking it would be surging my mid July, after the 4th of July gatherings, open pubs, restaurants etc.

Genesis of my thinking is here, so you can see the math:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215505213

[HUAJIAO]

23. For the first 9 words I thought it was about Delta ....Airlines...

[BlueWavePsych]

26. Freedumb is choosing to be unvaccinated.

[Initech]

29. Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it:

https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-covid-19-1918-flu-pandemic-social-distancing-masks-20210324.html

[appalachiablue]

33. An excellent article, worthy of a separate

post if you can, or I'll try to put it in Editorials later. Similar issues and human behavior that we're seeing now of course and unfortunately. How much we take for granted compared to the circumstances and hardships people faced in earlier times.

My mother told us about the 1918 Influenza, I wish I'd asked her more about it. She and a sibling were born in the midst of it, 1919, 1920 and were infants then, but she remembered what her parents said. Her father was a doctor, they all lived through it incredibly and so did my large number of paternal family members.

[Initech]

34. Sure, I'll post it in GD!

[appalachiablue]

35. Super good!

[Deminpenn]

37. A virus that kills its host is not destined for sustainability

nt

[DBoon]

38. however, a viirus that kills as much as 5% of its hosts

is not only sustainable but also produces a horrific number of deaths