Deepta Bhattacharya from the University of Arizona, an immunologist, stated that long-term, it is very difficult to prevent getting infected with Delta or other transmissible variants. If you don't get vaccinated, it is very likely that you will infect yourself at some point.BuzzFeed News reached out to outside experts who largely supported the CDC's decision based upon the new data. They argued that the findings only increase the urgency of the nation's lagging vaccine campaign. Some also questioned how much could be derived from the Cape Cod epidemic alone.Rochelle Walensky, CDC Director, stated that this finding was alarming and led to the CDC's revised mask recommendation. She made this statement in a Friday release. To ensure that the unvaccinated population does not unknowingly transmit disease to others, even those who are unvaccinated or have immunocompromised loved ones, the masking recommendation has been updated.Although it is not known how common breakthrough infections are, they are believed to be rare. The new findings show that even those who have been vaccinated in high-infection areas should be more vigilant.The vaccines have largely stopped fully vaccinated individuals from passing the virus on to others. The CDC has released new data that shows that vaccinated people can contract the Delta strain of coronavirus, also known as breakthrough infections. They may be as contagious to others as those who have not been vaccinated.It was a mild case of COVID-19 that occurred among those who had been vaccinated, which showed that vaccines still did their job of preventing serious disease, even the highly contagious Delta variant.New data showed that even vaccinated individuals can spread the Delta variant, prompting CDC to change its recommendation that people living in high-risk areas wear masks indoors. Data analyzed the large number of COVID-19-related cases that occurred among vaccinated beachgoers on Cape Cod, Massachusetts during the July Fourth holiday.The CDC advised that all persons, vaccinated or not, should wear masks indoors, in areas with moderate to high levels of transmission. This was partially a reversal from its May guidance, which stated that people who have been vaccinated no longer need to wear masks in public places. Walensky explained the decision citing new breakthrough infections, but didn't share any data to support the decision. This caused confusion and frustration.The data was compiled from large gatherings and events that took place around the Fourth of July. They were held indoors as well as outdoors in Provincetown, Massachusetts, which news reports identified as Barnstable County. Residents and out-of-towners reported being at densely packed bars, restaurants, guesthouses, and rental houses. About 450 Massachusetts residents had been positive by July 26. Surprisingly, the majority of those infected with the Delta variant were fully vaccinated.The CDC and Massachusetts Department of Health conducted an analysis of the outbreak. It found that fully vaccinated individuals had the same amount of virus as those who weren't fully vaccinated or were not yet fully vaccinated. This suggests that COVID-19-vaccinated patients were also capable of infecting others.George Rutherford, an Epidemiologist at UC San Francisco said that the data seemed to be a tipping point for the CDC to alter its masking advice.The dominant strain of the virus currently circulating in the US is Delta. A recent study found that the number of viruses in the body of people infected by the Delta variant of the coronavirus is 1000 times greater than the original strain. According to documents from the CDC that were first published by the Washington Post, the variant is just as contagious and can cause severe illness than other strains. In the document, health officials were urged to recognize that the war is over.Experts said it is not surprising that the virus evolved to be more transmissible. It has been able spread quickly in low-vaccination areas worldwide. We expected additional mutations to occur if SARS-CoV-2 continued circulated, according to Yvonne Maldonado (infectious diseases and global health professor at Stanford University). It appears that the Delta variant's mutations allow it to reproduce almost unchecked, even among those who have been vaccinated.Some scientists doubt that the new CDC findings can be interpreted in a broad way. Bhattacharya said it was immunologically impossible that breakthrough cases could be as contagious in people who have not been vaccinated. He said via email that it is difficult to imagine a situation where vaccines would work as well without reducing viral loads or the duration of infectiousness.Bhattacharya said that equating viral loads and infectiousness can be difficult, particularly when comparing unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals. This statement is highly likely to be wrong, and it is also the type of unwise statement that has returned to haunt public health guidance throughout the pandemic. He cited preliminary Israeli data showing that vaccinated people are less likely to spread the virus to others.The CDC also caveated in to its findings. It noted that the only way to determine how many virus-infected people were based on their genetic testing and not lab counts.Bhattacharya said, "I think it's reasonable to warn people that vaccinated persons are at greater risk for breakthrough infections and transmitting delta to others than with other variants."The mild symptoms reported in Cape Cod were: headache, sore throats, muscle pain, fever, and cough. This is a promising sign that vaccines are still working to reduce severe cases and death. Modernas and Pfizer shots have been proven to be 96% more effective against death and hospitalizations with the Delta variant.Experts believe that the real danger lies in unvaccinated individuals. People who are not vaccinated are at greater risk of contracting the Delta variant. In the US, more than 97% patients with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.Rutherford stated that people who are not vaccinated now face a high risk of contracting the virus if they live or work in areas with the variant.These findings raise questions as to whether booster shots are needed in order to fight the future variants of Delta. Maldonado stated that this information does not mean that booster shots are more necessary at this point unless there is evidence of a decline in immunity. This is still not clear at this time, but it could be in the next weeks or months.Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the California House Minority Leader, and other Republican legislators were skeptical about the new mask guidance. They expressed doubts about the evidence supporting the change and claimed that it was due to a study done in India with people who had been vaccinated with lower-effective shots. BuzzFeed News reached McCarthy's office but did not reply to a question about the new CDC data.
