As things begin looking direr, with the European Union even considering halting nonessential travel from the United States, vaccines and masks are even more important than ever in stopping the spread of the delta variant.
"It’s really not surprising that the EU would consider it, with so much substantial transmission occurring in the US," said Dr. Dean Blumberg, Professor and Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Health on Monday’s Ask an Expert with KCBS Radio’s Holly Quan and Dan Mitchinson.
And the highly contagious variant is spreading rapidly amongst children who aren’t able to get vaccinated. While vaccination rates are incredibly high, at about 80% in those over the age of 65, young adults and children are still troublingly low.
"Young adults feel invulnerable to serious illness so they sometimes choose not to get vaccinated and of course for children less than 12 years of age, there is no vaccine available," said Blumberg. "They’re getting infected, and we’re seeing more and more of them in the hospital now."
While kids are actually pretty responsible about wearing their masks, easing the lockdown has increased the number of people children come into contact with, said Blumberg. "Younger children are generally getting infected from older individuals, from adults who are not masking."
It’s spreading much faster, two to three times more infectious than COVID-19. It’s now more comparable to chickenpox or the measles, said Blumberg.
For those considering just letting natural infection take its course, the antibody response is still stronger if you get vaccinated rather than from natural infection, according to Blumberg. "It’s still important to be vaccinated even if you have been infected."
Schools are actually relatively safe, he said, if masking is obeyed. "I don’t think the schools are going to be major drivers of variants or increased number of cases in the community."
