.png)
By: Carter Hull
After a comparatively normal set of months in the COVID-19 age, new infections have once again started to increase in the U.S. This is due largely in part to the new Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus being far more contagious than previous strains of the coronavirus. As a result, public health departments across the country are beginning to implement similar virus mitigation measures to those in the early stages of the pandemic, namely mask mandates. However, we have to ask: What would we gain from the institution of new virus mitigation measures?
While the Los Angeles County public health department was one of the first to issue an indoor mask advisory for everyone regardless of vaccine status, the East Coast took a different approach. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NY) rejected calls for new mask mandates and lockdowns arguing that “A mask doesn’t arrest the progress of the variant, vaccination does.”
Would mask mandates and lockdowns be a mistake nationwide?
When the pandemic first started in March 2020, not much was known about Covid-19. Consumers wiped down groceries with Clorox, panic-bought toilet paper, and thought it would all be over before summer. Countless virus mitigation measures were taken throughout the pandemic, including mask mandates, social distancing, and lockdowns. However, new infections only started to decline towards endemic levels when vaccines became widely available. In short, we know what really works at stopping Covid: vaccines. Currently, there are multiple highly effective vaccines available to every teenager and adult in the country.
Further, it is important to consider the effects new virus mitigation measures would have on vaccine rates. Specifically, a Gallup News poll shows how a return to normalcy has incentivized society to get vaccinated. Now that nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 Americans increasingly see less disruption in their lives and feel a sense of normalcy returning. In fact, more than 54% of Americans in a new Gallup poll report their lives to be "not much" or "not at all" disrupted. However, in order to get back to some degree of normalcy vaccination rates must continue to increase. By disregarding the understanding society holds towards getting vaccinated and returning to normal, vaccine acceptance will enter into an even sharper decline.
What about the Delta variant?
New conversations about virus mitigation measures are fueled by a surge in cases from the highly contagious Delta variant. The COVID-19 Scenario Modeling hub, in consultation with the CDC, released new projections that the current surge will steadily accelerate through the summer and fall, peaking in mid-October. In this scenario, the surge would peak with around 60,000 cases a day compared to the average of 200,000 new cases per day we saw in January. But what these projections all hinge on is the state of vaccination in the United States. William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health warns that the Delta variant “might go off like a bomb in some under-vaccinated communities". This is extremely alarming considering that more than 97% of those entering the hospital are unvaccinated according to the CDC.
While CDC Director Rochelle Walensky updated now recommends vaccinated people should wear masks indoors, too, if they want extra protection in places where the virus is surging and there are a lot of unvaccinated people. But ultimately, the CDC’s main message is to get vaccinated. Justin Lessler, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina agrees. "If we got enough people vaccinated, we could even stop the delta variant in its tracks," he says.
What comes next?
It is abundantly clear that if the United States continues on its current path we will end up in an eerily similar situation to early 2021. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) warned that “these shots need to get in everybody’s arms as rapidly as possible or we´re going to be back in a situation in the fall that we don’t yearn for — that we went through last year.” A similar tone is being echoed throughout the United States, especially in areas of alarmingly low vaccination rates. Alabama, for example, with a vaccination rate of 33.91%, the lowest in the country, saw their governor Kay Ivey (R-AL) blame unvaccinated citizens for a surge in new cases and hospitalizations. She argued it is “time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks” for the disease’s continued spread. “I want folks to get vaccinated. That’s the cure. That prevents everything,” Governor Ivey told reporters in Birmingham last Thursday.
Ultimately, the reality is one many are unwilling to face: Covid is here to stay, variants will come and go and life must go on. However, the government must start shifting its focus off of new virus mitigation measures and onto incentivizing Americans to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated if we ever want to get back to some degree of normal life. Vaccines are the only safe, proven, and effective way of ensuring a return to true normalcy, but only if every American gets behind it.
Plan your vaccine appointment!
Use Vaccines.gov to find a location near you, then call or visit their website to make an appointment. https://www.vaccines.gov/
Discussion Questions
Will the Delta variant lead to an increase in vaccinations?
What steps should the Biden Administration take to reduce vaccine hesitancy?
Are social media platforms to blame for vaccine disinformation?
How could state governments incentivize unvaccinated populations to get the vaccine?
Sources Used
Comments