The most recent data shows that health providers have administered more than 5.6 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses worldwide, and 29.6% of the world population is vaccinated. Even so, the Covid-19 daily cases of infection continue to surge, even among children. According to the latest statistics, between the month of August and September, more than 750,000 children in the U.S have been detected positive for the Sar-CoV-2 virus. Health experts believe the Delta variant is to blame for the fourth wave.
The Delta Strain is to blame for the fourth wave of the pandemic
The CDC’s statistics mention that there have been more than 40 million cases of Covid-19 infection in the U.S since the beginning. In terms of vaccination status, the U.S has more than 62.4 % of the eligible population fully vaccinated, while the EU/EEA has more than 70.4 % of its eligible population fully vaccinated.
So what is to blame for the recent surge in daily new cases?
The most recent investigations pinpoint the highly contagious Delta strain as responsible for the fourth Covid-19 wave. Because none of the existing Covid-19 vaccines are 100% effective against the virus, and some variants are more resistant than others, many breakthrough infections have been recorded worldwide. The highly aggressive Delta strain has proven to be resistant to the available vaccines, and their effectiveness is known to lower in time.
Therefore, some fully vaccinated people can still get infected with the virus. The good news is that most of them will experience mild to no symptoms and will not need to be hospitalized or attended in the emergency care units. Recent data suggest that mRNA vaccines are more than 89% effective in preventing hospitalizations.
At the same time, those who suffer from breakthrough infections have experienced different symptoms than those unvaccinated. Recent studies data shows that fully vaccinated people who get infected with he virus experience symptoms similar to those of a common cold, such as a runny nose and headaches. On the contrary, unvaccinated people contracting the Covid-19 virus are more likely to need medical care and experience severe symptoms. Some include loss of taste and smell, fever, cough, diarrhea, and fatigue.
