University of Minnesota Infectious Disease Director Doctor Michael Osterholm joined Chad Hartman on Thursday to talk about the spread of the Delta Variant of COVID around the planet, and again expressed concern about so many not willing to get the vaccine.
The Delta Variant has caused cases to dramatically increase around the world and has been significantly more deadly according to Osterholm.
“This new Delta Variant is anywhere from 40% to 60% more infectious than the previous, highly infectious Alpha or B117 was,” Osterholm says. “It clearly is causing challenges with the protection of our vaccines. Particularly with one dose vaccines, it's not working well. It does seem to work well with the Pfizer and the Moderna, with two doses, but the world is virtually on fire with this virus.”
Osterholm talked about how in England, where vaccine rates are higher than the U.S., the caseloads have been going up. He warns that the U.S. will likely see the same thing here especially in hot spots where there is hesitancy to get vaccinated.
“Right now, case numbers increased by 110% over the last 14 days nationwide, hospitalizations are up over 22%, which is a lagging indicator,” Osterholm tells Chad Hartman. “If you look at what's happened with the increasing number of cases, 47 states have shown increases greater than 20%.”
When it comes to cases close to home, Osterholm says we’re in good shape, for now.
“Minnesota happens to be lower than that,” he says. “Fortunately the variant has not really taken off here yet, but it's a matter of time. We've got 20 states have had over 100% increase in cases just in the last 14 days. And if you look at hospitalizations, 20 states have seen increases 20% more in hospitalizations just in the last two weeks. And of course you already heard about the hot spots of Missouri and Arkansas and other places. This is picking up. So I think to make a long story short, what's happening right now is this variant’s wreaking havoc around the world.”
Osterholm also discussed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ stance on Dr. Anthony Fauci. DeSantis is now selling campaign merchandise mocking the White House medical advisor. “Don’t Fauci My Florida” reads the slogan emblazoned on t-shirts and koozies available for purchase on the Republican governor’s website.
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Dr. Osterholm shared with Chad Hartman that he avoids the politics surrounding the virus but did have a message for those that don’t believe it is a major problem across the country.
“I’ll just say this,” Osterholm begins. “If you're not vaccinated, this virus will find you. It will. It's highly transmissible. It's become much more transmissible, much more than even smallpox ever was. And I think that's the point to make here is that it's kind of taking a page out of the old commercial of some decades ago that said, you can pay me now or you'll pay me later. Our job in public health is not political. It is not to take a side of a certain party. It is to just keep sticking with the public health principle we know. I have had far too many people who have said to me, I didn't believe this pandemic. I didn't want to do anything about it. And it was only after those 38 days in the intensive care unit that I realized, why did I make that decision? And so all I can say is there will be a day of reckoning for everyone.”
The warning from Osterholm comes as U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy spoke about the battle against misinformation earlier Thursday.
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“Misinformation poses an imminent and insidious threat to our nation's health,” Murthy said during remarks to reporters Thursday at the White House. “We must confront misinformation as a nation. Lives are depending on it.”