BOISE, Idaho — In recent weeks, Idaho healthcare leaders have warned that the current COVID-19 situation is trending in the wrong direction.
“We are definitely seeing a rise in our cases, a rise in the number of people in the hospitals, we are very worried, and we think the delta variant is largely to blame,” state epidemiologist Dr. Christine Hahn said.
For months, there was speculation about what would happen if the coronavirus mutated into a more contagious variant. Experts now believe that we are likely now seeing the effects of that with the delta variant, specifically with breakthrough cases., which are cases when people are infected with COVID-19 even while fully vaccinated.
“We have been seeing more breakthrough cases but they tend to be milder," Hahn said. "The good news is if you are vaccinated, you may get delta variant but almost none of those folks that are vaccinated are ending up really sick. They are not ending up in the hospital, whereas our unvaccinated folks have that same risk but that’s who we are seeing end up in the hospital.”
Idaho medical expert Dr. David Pate said research shows new and concerning data on the delta variant and just how contagious it is, even for fully vaccinated people.
“What we’ve seen with delta is that it’s different," Pate said. "These folks that are getting infected have extremely high levels of virus in their nose, even those they are not sick. In fact, what the study showed was 1,260 times, more than 1,000 times more virus in your nose and that’s led the CDC and all of us to worry that this may be high enough virus, even if you are vaccinated, even though you won’t get sick, you might be able to transmit it to somebody. In fact, it may be more dangerous because the fact that you are vaccinated and the fact you don’t get sick, you are carrying it around and have no idea and then you do transmit it to somebody who is not vaccinated or somebody who is very vulnerable.”
For medical and community leaders, attention is, again, on increasing the percentage of people vaccinated. A common reason being cited by those choosing to not get vaccinated is the belief that they already have natural immunity from previously getting the coronavirus. Experts have pushed back on that rationale.
“My advice is get vaccinated and my insight is that I understand what they are saying and they probably do have some immunity but what it appears from studies because we are actually looking now at the antibody levels, at the T cell responses, in these folks that were previously infected and while yes you have some immunity, the amount of your immunity is less than if you get vaccinated," Pate said. "The duration is less than if you get vaccinated and the ability of delta and who knows what is coming next, but the ability for delta to get around your natural immunity Is even higher than the ability to get around vaccination. So, I don’t dispute you have some protection, but you don’t have great protection.”
Dr. Hahn said natural immunity to COVID-19 certainly exists, but vaccine immunity takes protection to a different level.
“We have all learned that natural immunity is a good thing and it really can be," she said. "It protects us against all sorts of stuff but with COVID being so new, we don’t really know if it’s going to protect you against the delta variant. If you got infected with another variant early on this one you might be vulnerable to. In addition, we don’t know how long natural immunity is going to last. We know natural immunity isn’t a lifelong thing for all diseases, it’s one reason why we have to get a flu shot every year and get tetanus boosters, right? There is something about immunity that it wears off over time.”
Join 'The 208' conversation:
- Text us at (208) 321-5614
- E-mail us at the208@ktvb.com
- Join our The 208 Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/the208KTVB/
- Follow us on Twitter: @the208KTVB or tweet #the208 and #SoIdaho
- Follow us on Instagram: @the208KTVB
- Bookmark our landing page: /the-208
- And we also turn each episode into a podcast on Podbean
- Still reading this list? We're on YouTube, too: