CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — What does the Delta Variant mean to those who are fully vaccinated? A Northwestern University professor has some answers.
The uptick in cases tied to the delta variant of COVID-19 has been called the pandemic of the unvaccinated.
"Should maintain some level of concern, but I would say it should not venture into a panic," Dr. Mercedes Carnethon, a professor and vice chair of preventive medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told WBBM Newsradio in reference to people who are fully vaccinated.
The vaccine provides protection against the delta variant and if a person does get sick, Carnethon said it's usually milder than if they were unvaccinated.
"If they do experience a breakthrough infection, it tends to be mild or at worst, moderate. And there are only a very small number of individuals who end up hospitalized with reinfection. So the best protection is to get that initial vaccination," she said.
Carnethon said she hopes that news stories about the delta variant prompt more people to get the vaccine.