Specifically, the CDC said that fully vaccinated people might choose to wear a mask regardless of the level of transmission. The CDC is now recommending fully vaccinated Americans return to wearing masks in indoor spaces in communities where coronavirus transmission is substantial or high.  The coronavirus transmission where I live (Cobb County, GA), is high. I’m masking up.

Why?

The Delta Variant is spreading rapidly through many communities., including my own.

Should vaccinated people wear masks? The simple answer is yes. Namely, if you are indoors in an area of your county that has high community spread rates., you should mask up. The Delta variant, which is very infectious, accounts for 80% of new COVID-19 cases.

Who is being infected?

97% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated. Likewise, it’s possible for vaccinated people to get sick from the virus. These are called breakthrough cases, and according to the CDC, these are rare.

Pictures (graphs) are worth 1,000 words

What’s going on with infections? If you take a look at the graph below created by Ed Johnson, we are in the beginning of what he calls a third Epoch of COVID-19. The virus is spreading among unvaccinated people. As you can see in the this graph of cases in Georgia, the cases have increased again starting near the end of June, 2021.

This graph of cases in the U.S. says it all.

Some stats:

• Vaccines for COVID-19, including the Delta variant are safe and free.
• Three vaccines are authorized: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson/Janssen.
• The Delta variant was first detected in the U.K. and India in April and May.  Delta is highly infectious and caused waves in the U.K. and India.  In India, confirmed cases exceeded 400,000 per day. It’s now on a rampage in all 50 U.S. states.
• The Delta variant is highly contagious.
• The viral load of the Delta variant is ~1000 times higher than those of earlier infections.
• The Delta variant is 50% more contagious than previous variants of COVID-19.
• Top 10 states with most cases (seven day average): Florida (number 1), California, Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Alabama, New York, Arkansas & Georgia (10).
• Vaccination rates have leveled off in the United States. This is the principle reason for the Delta spread.
• Nearly 30% of U.S. citizens are not vaccinated. 97% of new COVID-19 cases occur in unvaccinated people.
• There is no approved vaccination for children 12 or under. Students going back to school are at higher risk levels if they do not wear a mask. If you have children in school they should wear a mask. Many public and private colleges and universities are requiring students to be vaccinated.