FILE - In this July
19 2021 file photo,
employees check out
customers at 2nd
Street second hand
store in the Fairfax
district of Los
Angeles. New
evidence showing the
delta variant is as
contagious as
chickenpox has
prompted U.S. health
officials to
consider changing
advice on how the
nation fights the
coronavirus.
Recommending masks
for everyone and
requiring vaccines
for doctors and
other health care
providers are among
measures the Centers
for Disease Control
and Prevention is
considering, Friday,
July 30. (AP Photo/Marcio
Jose Sanchez, File)
CDC
team:
'War has
changed'
as delta
variant
dangers
emerge
By
LINDSEY
TANNER
apnews.com
ATLANTA
- New
evidence
showing
the
delta
variant
is as
contagious
as
chickenpox
and may
be more
dangerous
than
other
versions
has
prompted
U.S.
health
officials
to
consider
changing
advice
on how
the
nation
fights
the
coronavirus,
internal
documents
show.
Recommending
masks
for
everyone
and
requiring
vaccines
for
doctors
and
other
health
workers
are
among
measures
the
Centers
for
Disease
Control
and
Prevention
is
considering,
according
to
internal
documents
obtained
by the
Washington
Post.
The
documents
appear
to be
talking
points
for CDC
staff to
use in
explaining
the
dangers
of the
delta
variant
and
“breakthrough″
infections
that can
occur
after
vaccination.
Noted
under
communications:
“Acknowledge
the war
has
changed.”
In
recommending
that
vaccinated
people
resume
wearing
masks
indoors
in virus
hot
spots,
the CDC
this
week
said
that new
evidence
shows
that
breakthrough
infections
may be
as
transmissible
as those
in
unvaccinated
people.
They
cited a
large
recent
outbreak
among
vaccinated
individuals
in the
Cape Cod
town of
Provincetown,
Massachusetts,
among
others,
for the
change.
As
the
documents
note,
COVID-19
vaccines
are
still
highly
effective
at
preventing
serious
illness
and
death.
The CDC
has
always
expected
some
breakthrough
infections
but has
struggled
with how
to
explain
them to
the
public.
The
documents
point
out that
the
delta
variant,
first
detected
in
India,
causes
infections
that are
more
contagious
than the
common
cold,
flu,
smallpox
and
Ebola
virus,
and is
as
infectious
as
highly
contagious
chickenpox.
The
internal
documents
also
cite
studies
from
Canada,
Singapore
and
Scotland
showing
that the
delta
variant
may pose
a
greater
risk for
hospitalization,
intensive
care
treatment
and
death
than the
alpha
variant,
first
detected
in the
United
Kingdom.
Since
January,
people
who got
infected
after
vaccination
make up
an
increasing
portion
of
hospitalizations
and
in-hospital
deaths
among
COVID-19
patients,
according
to the
documents.
That
trend
coincides
with the
spread
of the
delta
variant.
But
the CDC
emphasizes
that
breakthrough
infections
are
still
uncommon.
___
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Press
Health
and
Science
Department
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