PITTSBURGH — The CDC is warning there’s a potential new threat on the horizon: The Delta variant of COVID-19. It now accounts for 10% of all new cases in the country.
“It appears to be the most contagious of the variants, meaning it’s more contagious than the U.K. variant or the Alpha variant,” said infectious disease expert Dr. Amesh Adalja.
Adalja said the contagious variant should not be alarming for those who are fully vaccinated.
“It can take off very quickly like it did in India. That’s why people are really attune to the risk of this,” Adalja said. “The key to controlling the Delta variant is to have the highest level of vaccination you can in your population.”
New numbers show that in Pennsylvania, nearly 100% of residents over the age of 65 have at least their first dose. Almost 80% of the adult population in Allegheny County has at least one shot in their arms. County officials said they have no reported cases of the variant locally.
“We will likely see increases of hospitalizations in unvaccinated individuals, but it will be different than what we saw around winter of this year or what we saw in the spring of 2020 because so many of our high-risk individuals are vaccinated,” Adalja said.
This browser does not support the video element.