- The Delta variant of COVID-19 is causing surges in cases across the United States, and because vaccination coverage is uneven within the states, there is higher transmission.
- New COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to be largely limited to the unvaccinated, and only a small percentage of vaccinated people experience breakthrough infections.
- Despite some reports indicating reduced vaccine efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 infection with the Delta variant, real-life data shows the three available vaccines offer great protection against hospitalization and death.
- The CDC recommends everyone over 12 years old who is eligible to get vaccinated.
New COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to increase across the United States, particularly in areas with higher rates of community transmission and lower vaccination coverage.
The southern United States, particularly Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama, have been battling new clusters of COVID-19 outbreaks. Hospitals have said they run the risk of being overwhelmed with patients and may not have the capacity to deal with them all.
Of those hospitalized, an increasing number are children, most of whom remain unvaccinated.
However, recent data appears to suggest waning effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 infection versus Moderna. This has increased worries about vaccines.
But how are vaccines really doing? Are they preventing enough hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19 as claimed?
Here is what the numbers say:
Source: healthline