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Biden blames delta variant, unvaccinated individuals

Biden blames delta variant, unvaccinated people

President Joe Biden on Friday blamed the coronavirus pandemic for a surprisingly weak jobs report, calling out Americans who have still not gotten vaccinated even amid the spread of the highly infectious delta variant.

Nonfarm payrolls in August increased by just 235,000, the Labor Department reported, far below the 720,000 new hires that economists predicted. The report showed the smallest monthly jobs total since January.

“There’s no question the delta variant is why today’s job report isn’t stronger,” Biden said at the White House shortly after the data came out.

Biden, who has spent much of his first leg in the White House focused on the pandemic, said, “We need to make more progress in fighting the delta variant.”

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Despite the government’s ongoing vaccination push, tens of millions of eligible Americans still have not received even a single dose of a Covid shot. Biden said that group is prolonging the pandemic and contributing to anxieties that impact the economy.

“This is a continuing pandemic of the unvaccinated,” the president said. “Too many have not gotten vaccinated, and it’s creating a lot of unease in our economy and around our kitchen tables.”

Less than 64% of U.S. adults, roughly 175 million people, are fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pfizer-BioNTech’s two-shot Covid vaccine, the only one to receive full approval from the Food and Drug Administration, is only available for people 16 and older. Kids ages 12 to 15 are still able to get Pfizer’s shot on an emergency use basis.

Biden acknowledged the weak numbers in the report — “I was hoping for a higher number,” he said. But he nevertheless defended the economic progress that the U.S. has seen under his administration.

“What we’re seeing is an economic recovery that’s durable and strong. The Biden plan is working. We’re getting results.”

The president highlighted the decrease in the unemployment rate, down to 5.2% in the latest report from 6.3% in January.

He also teased new steps the White House would take next week to combat the delta variant, suggesting that the actions would focus on protecting schools, businesses, families and the economy from the virus.

The spread of the delta variant has led to another huge surge in Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths around the country, with Southern states hit especially hard. Florida has a higher Covid hospitalization rate than anywhere else in the U.S., and this week broke its record for the largest single-day rise in deaths, with 1,338 reported Thursday.

Some experts are predicting another spike is in store for the Northeast.

“Now whether we see a wave of infection as dense and severe as the South, I don’t think that’s going to be the case because we have a lot more vaccination; we’ve had a lot of prior infection, which we also know is protective,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who served as FDA chief for two years under then-President Donald Trump, told CNBC earlier Friday.

“But we will probably see a build in cases here in the Northeast,” he said. “I don’t think that we’re done with this.”

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U.S. evacuates 7,000 individuals from Kabul in previous week

U.S. evacuates 7,000 people from Kabul in past week

A US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III.

US Air Force | Flickr CC

WASHINGTON – The US has flown about 7,000 people on cargo planes from Kabul, Afghanistan, in the past five days, the Pentagon said Thursday, while US forces are evacuating as many people as possible in less than two weeks before a self-imposed deadline for withdrawing from the country.

Since late July, the US has evacuated approximately 12,000 people from Afghanistan, including US citizens, US embassy staff, NATO nationals, vulnerable Afghan nationals, and Afghan nationals who have qualified for special immigrant visas.

US Army Major General William “Hank” Taylor said that while the US military can fly about 5,000 to 9,000 people out of Kabul every day, that number depends “on who is at the airfield, ready to leave a waiting area and.” on the plane.”

More than 2,000 people have been evacuated on C-17 aircraft in the past 24 hours, Taylor said. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby estimated that around 300 of the passengers were Americans. Kirby told reporters on Thursday that he did not know how many US citizens were left in Afghanistan.

There are currently 6,000 people at the airport who have been fully evacuated by the US and are waiting to board planes, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Thursday.

An Afghan child sleeps on the loading floor of a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, which is kept warm by the uniform of the C-17 loadmaster, during an evacuation flight from Kabul, Afghanistan, August 15, 2021.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force

The latest revelation follows Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s admission that the Pentagon is currently unable to safely escort Americans to the airport for evacuation.

“I currently do not have the opportunity to expand operations into Kabul,” said Austin when asked about those who cannot reach the gates of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul because they are behind Taliban checkpoints.

The US embassy in Kabul warned US citizens there on Wednesday that they could not guarantee “a safe passage” to the airport.

The US is relying on an agreement with the Taliban to ensure safe passage for Americans.

U.S. forces have opened another secure gate at the airport to provide easy access to the perimeter for evacuation, Kirby told reporters on Thursday. Around 5,200 soldiers secure the facility and help evacuate flights.

In an interview with ABC News, President Joe Biden defended his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, saying there was no way “to get out without chaos”.

“We will do everything in our power to get all Americans and our allies out,” Biden said, adding that he might consider extending the deadline for a full withdrawal to August 31.

Read more about developments in Afghanistan:

Although the Afghan military, backed by US and NATO coalition forces for the past 20 years, is vastly outnumbered, the Taliban captured Kabul on Sunday.

Members of the House Intelligence Committee are due to receive a secret briefing on the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan next week, a committee official told NBC News.

The briefing, which will be attended by several US intelligence agencies, aims to explain how the country fell under full control of the Taliban. The secret meeting will also give lawmakers an opportunity to learn about the evolving security situation in Afghanistan, shed light on US talks with the Taliban, and keep abreast of evacuation efforts.

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Health

Barbara Kannapell, Activist Who Empowered Deaf Individuals, Dies at 83

Barbara Kannapell, Activist Who Empowered Deaf People, Dies at 83

Her parents attended Gallaudet, and Barbara, known as Kanny, followed in their footsteps and earned her bachelor’s degree in Deaf Education in 1961. In 1970 she received a master’s degree in educational technology from the Catholic University of America in Washington. For her dissertation in Georgetown, where she completed her PhD in 1985, she examined the attitudes of 200 Gallaudet students and found that 62 percent of them considered themselves bilingual in ASL and English.

After graduating from Gallaudet, she began four decades at the university, starting in 1962 as a research assistant. Her last position there was from 1987 to 2003 as an associate professor. She also taught at the Community College of Baltimore County, where she began as an adjunct professor in 1997 and retired as an adjunct professor in 2014.

She met Ms. Paul, who was a writer and editor and advisor on women’s leadership (she is now retired), in 1971 at a gay bar in Washington, Ms. Paul said in an interview. The bar had phones on the tables so people could call other tables. Ms. Paul listening was with a friend who was Dr. Kannapell’s desk called, but everyone there was deaf and couldn’t hear the phone. So Mrs. Paul and her friend went and introduced themselves personally.

“The next day I ran to the library and looked for anything I could find about the deaf,” said Ms. Paul. She then met with Dr. Kannapell for lunch, where they agreed in writing.

Their relationship blossomed. When same-sex marriage was illegal, they held an engagement ceremony; they married in 2013 in the District of Columbia. Paul is the only immediate survivor of Dr. Kannapell.

Among the many interests of Dr. Kannapell, she was fascinated by the experiences of deaf Americans during World War II. Over the decades, she gathered a wealth of data, including interviews with deaf people who had worked in war factories and material she received from deaf people and their descendants. She published an early summary of her research in 2002 in the journal of the National Association of the Deaf, entitled “Forgotten Americans: Deaf War Plant Workers in World War II”.

Ms. Paul and various colleagues plan to complete their project and publish it in the near future.

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Health

Scott Gottlieb says vaccinated individuals cannot ‘throw warning to the wind’

U.S. may never reach 'true herd immunity,' says Dr. Scott Gottlieb

Dr. Scott Gottlieb on Friday urged fellow vaccinated Americans to be on guard about the Covid delta variant, telling CNBC its highly transmissible nature cannot be ignored even by people who have immunity protection.

“The original premise around the vaccines — that they reduce the risk of serious disease and hospitalization — is still intact,” the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner said on “Squawk Box.” “We still see in the data that the vast majority of people who are getting in trouble with Covid are people who are unvaccinated.”

However, Gottlieb, who serves on the board of Covid vaccine maker Pfizer, said the risk to vaccinated people is not zero.

“People who are vaccinated in a setting of this epidemic surge, especially if they’re in places where there’s a high prevalence of infection, need to take appropriate precautions,” he said. “You can’t just throw caution to the wind. You can still become a vehicle for spread in your community.”

The seven-day average of daily new coronavirus cases in the U.S. is 141,060, according to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. That’s up 14% from a week ago. Cases are increasing by more than 5% in 42 states plus Washington, D.C.

Gottlieb’s comments Friday came in response to a question about three vaccinated U.S. senators — Roger Wicker, Angus King, and John Hickenlooper — who announced a day earlier they had tested positive for Covid.

“I think there’s now a recognition that this delta is sufficiently contagious that it can pierce the protections offered by the vaccine, particularly if you were vaccinated a while ago and have declining immunity, as these senators probably did because they were vaccinated a long time ago,” said Gottlieb, who led the FDA from 2017 to 2019.

While some scientists disagree with U.S. health officials’ recent decision to authorize Covid booster shots beginning next month, Gottlieb said he believes the delta variant’s transmissibility supports the idea of delivering third doses to Americans. Noting his role on Pfizer’s board, Gottlieb said he’s studied the data that shows declining immunity protection over time.

“It happens to be the case that we vaccinated some of our most vulnerable older individuals in our society last December and January, particularly nursing homes,” Gottlieb said. “I think the prudent thing to do would be to get additional immunity in that population, especially considering the fact we’re dealing with a much more contagious variant.”

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus, health-care tech company Aetion Inc. and biotech company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel.”

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Health

Unvaccinated folks face extra Covid restrictions in future

Unvaccinated people face more Covid restrictions in future

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Toulouse against France’s mandatory health pass on July 12th 2021. More than 234,000 people demonstrated across France against the pass which will be mandatory for entry to a wide array of public venues such as cafes, theaters, concerts hall, cinemas, shopping malls, public transportation, public swimming pools, and even hospitals unless there’s a critical situation.

NurPhoto | NurPhoto | Getty Images

LONDON — The divide between the vaccinated and unvaccinated when it comes to Covid-19 is likely to become even deeper, with officials in the U.S. and Europe planning, or introducing, an increasing number of restrictions on people who haven’t gotten a Covid shot.

Almost all governments around the world have so far resisted making Covid vaccination mandatory for their citizens, although many have introduced forms of Covid vaccination certificates, passes or passports that allow the immunized bearer more freedoms and work opportunities than unvaccinated people.

Aspects of daily life are increasingly complicated for anyone who is not vaccinated against Covid, and there is a rising sense of anger and injustice among those who reject the vaccine.

Vaccine fault lines

Despite protests among groups against such moves, the freedom to travel, work, socialize and engage in leisure activities is increasingly determined by our Covid vaccination status.

Nationally the U.S. has ruled out making Covid vaccination mandatory, rejecting the concept of vaccination passports back in April due to concerns over privacy and citizens’ rights. But some states are moving toward more restrictions for unvaccinated people.

Covid vaccinations are now mandatory for New York City’s municipal workers, and from mid-September proof of inoculation will be required from employees and customers of indoor eateries, gyms and entertainment centers. Meanwhile, workers in health care facilities in California will be required to provide proof that they’ve been fully vaccinated against Covid from October. On Monday, the Pentagon said it plans to make Covid vaccination mandatory for military service members no later than mid-September.

Read more: Herd immunity from Covid is ‘mythical’ with the delta variant, experts say

France, Greece and the U.K. are among European countries mandating vaccinations for health professionals or home care staff. In China, some local governments have reportedly said students will not be allowed back to school in September unless their entire family is fully vaccinated. In Australia, some states in lockdown are allowing only vaccinated people back to work and have said restrictions will be lifted only when a majority of people are immunized.

A large number of European countries now require travelers to show they are fully vaccinated, provide proof of a negative Covid test, or show that they have recovered from a recent infection. Otherwise, they must quarantine.

“I ask all those who have been vaccinated to encourage their friends, acquaintances and family members to also get vaccinated,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday, shortly after new measures were announced in that country. “This is not only a protection for us, but also for others who cannot be vaccinated — children or people with previous illnesses.”

‘Blackmail’ and ‘dictatorship’

There are many individuals who are unhappy about the trend toward differentiating between the vaccinated and unvaccinated. Marco De Matteo, a young Neapolitan man who is a travel enthusiast, is angry about the situation in Italy where a “green pass” has been introduced, likening the situation to a “health and economic dictatorship.”

“Those in power are limiting, by law, individuals’ freedom and dignity,” he said. “The imposition of the green pass in the world of work, both in the public and in the private sector … is breaking society apart,” he told CNBC.

The pass is a digital or paper certificate that shows if someone has received at least one shot of a vaccine, has tested negative or has recently recovered from the coronavirus. The pass is now needed for any Italian citizen to access indoor bars and restaurants, cinemas, museums or gyms and will soon be required for travel and some jobs, such as teachers. Those who refuse will be suspended.

Members of the ‘No Vax’ take part in a demonstration against the introduction of a mandatory “green pass” in the aim to limit the spread of the Covid-19, at the Piazza del Popolo in central Rome on August 7, 2021.

ALBERTO PIZZOLI | AFP | Getty Images

De Matteo, and many others who are also concerned about encroachment on civil liberties, recognizes the need to protect the health of the community. But he says that for him “there are many doubts both about the nature of the virus and about the vaccine.” He also regrets negative stereotypes attributed to people that object to Covid vaccines.

“In Italy, many people are organizing peaceful demonstrations — people from all walks of life and economic backgrounds who care about everyone’s freedom, dignity and health — but they are labeled as conspiracy theorists,” he said.

Vaccine skepticism and outright anti-vaccination sentiment have become rife since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, coinciding with disinformation and misinformation on social media that can ultimately endanger lives. Clinical trials, peer-reviewed by international medical journals, have shown that vaccination reduces the spread of the virus and contributes to reducing deaths and severe illness.

Medical professionals, such as Dr. Scott Gottlieb, have repeatedly spoken of the benefits of vaccination. Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, also told CNBC last month that people who have previously been infected with the coronavirus would still benefit from receiving Covid vaccines.

French yoga teacher Amel Lamloum told CNBC back in January that she didn’t see the advantages of having the Covid vaccine, given her young age (30) and good health.

Read more: France’s vaccine-skepticism is making its Covid immunization drive much harder  

Speaking to CNBC again Thursday, Lamloum said she still had not received the vaccine and was even more reluctant to do so now, given what she saw as “blackmail” by the French government to do so.

“I really think society has changed and that there is no justice anymore,” she said, adding that she no longer trusted the government and had prepared herself to adjust how she lived.

“Many, many people will not get the vaccine, for sure, and we will have to live in a side society and we are ready for it, we are ready for everything.”

Why the reluctance?

For millions of people who have been happy and willing to receive a Covid vaccine, the rollout of vaccination programs has offered protection against a highly transmissible virus. It’s also allowed a return to much-missed freedoms, from seeing loved-ones and socializing to shopping and traveling.

But others across the U.S. and Europe see vaccination programs with ambivalence or worse.

Some have been critical of the speed of Covid vaccine development, distrusting clinical data on the efficacy and long-term safety credentials of Covid vaccines. Others have questioned why they need a shot when Covid can be a mild or asymptomatic illness for many people, especially the young.

Public bodies like the World Health Organization have repeatedly reaffirmed the importance of vaccinating as many people as possible against Covid to curb the spread of the disease and allow a return to a normal societal functioning. Covid vaccines have been proven in extensive clinical trials involving hundreds of thousands of people to be safe and highly effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death.

What’s less certain for experts is how long immunity lasts and whether future Covid variants could undermine vaccine efficacy. Many governments are weighing up the merits of booster vaccines too but for now, the main priority is to encourage vaccine uptake among the completely unvaccinated.

Who is most vaccine resistant?

Public confidence in vaccines, or the flipside of vaccine hesitancy, differs wildly from country to country and is often informed by the public’s trust in government and health care systems. France, for example, is renowned for a high rate of vaccine hesitancy, while vaccine uptake in the U.K. has traditionally been high.

One survey showed vaccine opposition highest in Russia, followed by the U.S., according to a global poll of 15 countries carried out by data intelligence company Morning Consult in July and August. With 43,054 interviews conducted in the U.S. alone, the percentage of people unwilling or uncertain about getting a Covid vaccine stood at 30%.

Young adults have a lower vaccine rate in every country that was tracked except in China, the poll also found, although that data could also reflect the speed and breadth of vaccination programs; some young adults are yet to be fully vaccinated in a number of countries polled.

Adults in the U.S. appear to be the most consistent when it comes to vaccine skepticism; the share of vaccine skeptics in the U.S. has remained at 30% for the past four weeks, Morning Consult said, and that share has only fallen by 4 percentage points since it began tracking in mid-April.

“Over that same time period, in the other 14 countries tracked, the share of skeptics has dropped by an average of 13 points, more than triple the decline in skepticism seen in the U.S.. No other country has seen a smaller decline,” Morning Consult noted.

The top reasons given for uncertainty over vaccines were concerns over side effects and worries that clinical trials had been conducted too fast.

Europe curbs

Back in Europe, parts of the leisure sector are being affected directly by the new rules. In Belgium, for instance, some soccer clubs are opening separate spectator stands for those who are unvaccinated. In the U.K., only the fully vaccinated will soon be able to enter a nightclub.

A number of countries have gone further, introducing types of Covid vaccination “passes” or “passports” at the national level, prompting criticism from some quarters.

France has introduced a “health pass,” meaning that individuals have to prove they are fully vaccinated, recently tested negative, or have recently recovered from the virus if they want to access cafes, restaurants, cinemas, museums and theaters. The pass has proved controversial, stoking protests attracting thousands of people who say the pass restricts civil liberties.

Charleroi, one of the Belgian soccer clubs introducing separate stands for unvaccinated fans.

VIRGINIE LEFOUR | AFP | Getty Images

Germany looks to be heading in a similar direction, aiming to encourage vaccine uptake by ending free, government-paid Covid tests while requiring anyone who’s not fully vaccinated (excluding children) to present a negative Covid test in order to access indoor spaces and events.

“Tests are therefore becoming a prerequisite, for example, for access to hospitals, old people’s and nursing homes, indoor catering, events and celebrations, but also for visits to the hairdresser or the cosmetic studio. The same applies to indoor sports or accommodation, for example in hotels and guest houses,” the government said on Tuesday.

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus, health-care tech company Aetion Inc. and biotech company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel.”

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Covid vaccines required for journey, unvaccinated folks do not prefer it

Covid vaccines required for travel, unvaccinated people don't like it

Unvaccinated people are eager to travel again. But more and more, the rules make that harder.

Travelers are increasingly required to show proof of vaccination before they can cruise, book group tours, avoid quarantines, or vacation to tropical islands. Beyond that, vaccines are needed for everyday activities including attending some universities, returning to the workplace or eating in restaurants.

More cities and companies — from Paris to New York, from Disney to Fox Corp. — are issuing vaccine requirements of one sort or another, paving the way for others to follow.

The new rules fall short of true mandates, since people can often avoid them by submitting to rigorous testing and safety protocols. But the “near-mandates,” as they are being called, have the practical effect of making life logistically difficult for some unvaccinated people.

Vaccine-based rules have more support in Europe, but Americans are divided over them. The latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey found 49% favoring mandates and 46% opposing them. Views were sharply divided by age and political affiliation, with nearly 80% of unvaccinated people against them.

CNBC interviewed nearly a dozen unvaccinated travelers. A complex picture of their views emerged, highlighting fears, frustrations and an indifference toward vaccines and the restrictions that require them.

Waiting it out

Several people who oppose mandatory vaccines said they resent being grouped with so-called “anti-vaxxers.” Among them was a mental health counselor from the U.S. South, who asked not to be named due to her occupation.  

She said she is vaccinated against other diseases, and her children are as well. “I’m not anti-vaccine at all,” she said.

But she’s “against these rushed vaccines,” referring to the ones designed to combat Covid.

A mental health counselor from the Deep South was one of several people CNBC interviewed who expressed concern that the vaccines were not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Wolfgang Kumm | picture alliance | Getty Images

She travels monthly and fears catching the virus. Vaccine-based restrictions haven’t impeded her ability to travel, but she’s concerned they could, especially since her spouse is European. She said Covid tests “make more sense” — an argument which gained traction in The Atlantic last week — and are more equitable for those who can’t or won’t vaccinate.

“I will continue to wait it out and hope that over time a less desperate and more logical approach will arise,” she said. “When and if these vaccines are proven safe, I will get one.”

Singaporean Ng Syn Jae agrees. Singapore is on target to have 80% of its population vaccinated by next month, but the 27-year-old said he won’t be among them.

From Aug. 10, vaccinated people in Singapore can dine in restaurants again, while most unvaccinated adults and teenagers cannot.

Suhaimi Abdullah | NurPhoto | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Ng said he feels the vaccines being administered in Singapore — from Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna — are still in “an experimental stage.” He said he’s worried about possible long-term negative side effects, a fear expressed by others who spoke to CNBC.

The World Health Organization, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other health agencies around the world do not share those worries. They’ve said repeatedly that approved vaccines, including those from Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna, are safe and effective against Covid-19 and existing variants.

Covid vaccines have been administered in 199 countries around the world with 30% of the global population having received at least one shot, according to the Our World in Data project at The University of Oxford.

Travel mandates likely would encourage Ng to get vaccinated, he said, though he feels they are unethical. He said he would likely opt for the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine because “the technology the vaccine uses is older” than the newer mRNA vaccines.

He said he will vaccinate “when the vaccine companies show they have done all the proper safety tests —and then, I might wait even longer.”

Frustrated, but not angry

Bert Valdez, a professional surfer living in Hawaii, isn’t vaccinated and doesn’t plan to be.

“It’s a drug, and we were always told not to do drugs,” he said.

His travel experience is wide — coastal locations including Tahiti, Fiji, Taiwan, Mexico and Costa Rica. He acknowledged that his decision not to get vaccinated will probably limit his ability to compete and earn money in the future.

This is not going to kill me.

Valdez said he’s frustrated, but not angry, about vaccine-based travel restrictions, which he said will be short-lived because the “people in power won’t be much longer,” both in the United States and abroad. He did not elaborate on how or why this global transition of power would occur.

Despite scientific evidence to the contrary, he said he believes vaccinated people are spreading the Covid variants while unvaccinated people take the blame.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unvaccinated people are much more likely to contract and transmit the virus that causes Covid-19, including the highly contagious delta variant.

As for the pandemic itself, Valdez said he laments how anger is dividing families and friends. He’s less worried about himself, but more for his three daughters.

“I’ve been through a lot in my life,” he said. “This is not going to kill me.”

Fearing the vaccine more than the virus

Beegy Morter lives in Dallas and described herself as a practitioner of “energy medicine.” She isn’t happy about vaccine-based travel restrictions. She said she can’t take vaccines because she’s allergic to a preservative they contain.

“I do feel discriminated” against, the 77-year-old told CNBC. “I’m not anti-vaxx — I’ve just done the research.”

Morter also said she has trouble wearing masks. They make her dizzy, so she avoids stores that require them.

“I would rather take my chances…”

She’s been given the “cold shoulder” by people who discover she’s unvaccinated, she said. She described encounters which mirror reports of rising resentment and hostility toward the unvaccinated.

Even without her allergy, Morter said she still wouldn’t get vaccinated. For one thing, she doesn’t fear getting Covid, she said.

“The survival rate of catching Covid is so good,” she said. “I would rather take my chances … than take the vaccine.”

U.S. officials have repeatedly contradicted views like hers about the risk Covid poses toward the unvaccinated. The vast majority of Covid-related hospitalizations and deaths in the United States are now occurring among unvaccinated people.

How Americans are responding to Covid variants

Likely to wear masks     Likely to avoid large gatherings
Vaccinated 62% 61%
Unvaccinated 37% 40%
Source: KFF Covid-19 Vaccine Monitor

Yet Morter isn’t alone. A new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows 53% of unvaccinated adults in the United States fear the vaccines more than the disease itself.

Unvaccinated people are also less worried about getting “seriously sick” from Covid (73%) than vaccinated people (61%), according to the report.

‘Stubborn’

Dan Morris of Dunedin, Florida, said his plans to visit Australia this year are looking “extremely unlikely.”

He understands not getting vaccinated won’t help, since “there’s talk of [Australian authorities] not being willing to take unvaccinated people in the future” too.

Morris said he has “a range of reasons” for his decision, including having “a messed-up immune system” due to Crohn’s Disease, and concerns that mutations are making the vaccines less effective.

When asked if that was a circular argument — i.e., refusing vaccines because they may not be as effective against variants which, in turn, are more likely to develop if people refuse the vaccines — Morris said:

“Yes, if it is true that mutations are more likely or mostly occurring in the unvaccinated, then ‘the vaccines are continuing to mutate’ is not a great argument … I would be contributing to the problem. However, I think the mutations are going to come whether I vax or not.”

I’m really not bothered at all by the various restrictions…

The WHO has repeatedly said that Covid-19 vaccines are safe and life-saving. “One of the best ways of guarding against new variants is to continue… rolling out vaccines,” according to the WHO’s website.

In the meantime, Morris said he’s fine to wait years for long-term studies to be published. As to whether he would vaccinate to visit Australia, he isn’t budging.

“Tougher enforcement and restrictions make me less likely to be vaccinated in the future,” he said. “I’m stubborn!”

‘Not bothered’

Bryan Hale, a 54-year-old self-employed coach from Phoenix, isn’t vaccinated. But he isn’t averse to the idea either.

“I’m more than willing to get vaccinated if it becomes a serious issue or need,” he said. “I’ve just been busy.”

His vaccination status has resulted in backlash from his family, some of whom have refused to see him until he is immunized, he said.

Though studies indicate that unvaccinated people are less likely to wear masks or practice social distancing, Hale said he does both, especially since he travels weekly by car in the U.S. Southwest and Mexico.

Bryan Hale said he has experienced “zero” Covid-related delays at the U.S.-Mexico border — though news reports show others haven’t been as lucky.

Erin Clark | Boston Globe | Getty Images

“I’m really not bothered at all by the various restrictions and protocols that have been put in place for travelers,” he said, adding that he feels the government and society at large are “doing the best they can to deal with an unpredictable, complex and serious challenge.”

Hale said he respects the rights of individuals to choose to vaccinate, as well as businesses to implement rules for their organizations.

Deciding to vaccinate

Travel restrictions are coaxing people like Lois Lindsey over the line. The retired accountant from Houston got vaccinated last week solely to safeguard her upcoming vacation plans, she said.  

“I don’t want to take the vaccine but feel forced to do so since I will be taking a trip to Kentucky in October and a cruise in January,” she said. “I don’t want to … pay more or be delayed at the airport if I’m not vaccinated.”

If I could make my own decision, I would put my life in God’s hands.

According to a Time/Harris poll conducted in March, more than half (52%) of vaccinated respondents indicated their decision was influenced at least in part by the desire to travel.   

Lindsey’s cruise on Carnival Cruise Line requires all passengers aged 12 and older to be vaccinated. Exemptions are available, but unvaccinated travelers have to pay a $150 surcharge, submit to additional Covid tests, buy travel insurance (if leaving from Florida or Texas) and forgo “independent sightseeing in ports of call,” according to the company’s website.  

Lois Lindsey said she, her daughter and eldest grandchild decided to get vaccinated to go on a cruise departing this winter from Galveston, Texas.

Thomas Shea | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Lindsey says she feels there’s “conflicting information floating around” about who is spreading Covid, the effectiveness of masks, and whether vaccines protect against variants. She gets her news from CNN, Fox News, NBC News and talk radio, she said.

“If I could make my own decision, I would put my life in God’s hands,” said Lindsey.

A 50-year-old woman who works in New York’s financial sector and who did not wish to be identified told CNBC she’s considering getting vaccinated due to an upcoming trip to Hawaii.

Vaccinations aren’t required to enter the state, but she wants to avoid “any surprises” during the trip. Her travel companion is also pressing her to get vaccinated, which she feels she will likely do “for travel and for my parents … to feel safer.”   

She is currently working virtually from New Jersey, which lets her take a wait-and-see approach on vaccines. If called back into her New York office, “I would go forward with the vaccine,” she said.

‘Incredibly stubborn and foolish’

After a mild bout with Covid left her with a lingering cough for 10 months, Monica McLary, 45, decided to get vaccinated. She was initially hesitant, but the desire to travel with fewer restrictions spurred her to act.

“I want freedom to travel, I don’t want to get Covid again and I want to know that others cannot get the virus from me,” she told CNBC. “I feel like it’s everyone’s civic duty and find myself angered by those that continue to refuse based on misinformation.”

I am a conservative, voted for Trump, but these people are incredibly stubborn and foolish.

Since the pandemic started, the part-time Pilates instructor and real estate agent from Atlanta has traveled to Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks (“oblivious to the pandemic with no rules or regulations”), Boston and Nantucket, Massachusetts (“so many restrictions”); Jackson Hole, Wyoming (“no masks required”); and Louisville to watch the Kentucky Derby (“we flew privately so that was the best”), among other places.

McLary persuaded her two teenage sons to get vaccinated so they could avoid masks and travel restrictions. Problems began, she said, when unvaccinated people stopped wearing masks too. Now Covid hospitalizations are rising again in Georgia and other U.S. states with low vaccination rates.  

“I am a conservative, voted for Trump,” she said, “but these people are incredibly stubborn and foolish.”

An article in the Economist last week indicated that the single greatest predictor of whether an American has been vaccinated is who they voted for in the last U.S. presidential election.

“I hope [Trump] doesn’t run again, and I hope more businesses — airlines included — and schools mandate vaccines,” McLary said.  

“It is not about politics, but about public safety,” she said. “We are all in this together.”

Read more from CNBC about travel and vaccinations

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Why absolutely vaccinated folks can get Covid

Why fully vaccinated people can get Covid

Nurses watch a computer screen in Bogota, Colombia on February 18, 2021.

JUAN BARRETO | AFP | Getty Images

LONDON – People fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are highly protected from serious infection, hospitalization and death from the virus. But coronavirus cases among the fully vaccinated – so-called “breakthrough” covid cases – are still seen in those who received two doses.

It does this for a number of reasons, experts note.

First off, none of the vaccines used in the US or Europe are 100% effective at preventing infections.

In addition, new Covid strains such as the highly contagious Delta variant – which is now widespread worldwide – have made the efficacy picture more difficult. There is also incomplete data on how long immunity to Covid lasts after vaccination.

The alarm was raised over groundbreaking Covid cases when preliminary data released in late July in Israel – which had one of the fastest vaccination programs in the world – showed that the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was only 40.5% effective at preventing symptomatic illness was.

The analysis, conducted when the Delta variant became the dominant tribe in the country, nonetheless found that two doses of the shot offered strong protection from serious illness and hospitalization, the country’s health ministry reported.

The data also appeared to show declining effectiveness of the Pfizer BioNTech shot, with the vaccine being only 16% effective against symptomatic infections in those who received two doses of the shot in January. However, in people who had received two doses by April, the rate of effectiveness (against symptomatic infection) was 79%.

However, a study conducted in England from April to May found that after two doses, the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine was 88% effective against symptomatic diseases caused by the Delta variant.

However, comparing the results is difficult given the differences in the nature of vaccination programs in the two countries (for example, Israel has given the Pfizer vaccine to the entire adult population, while in the UK several vaccines with the Pfizer BioNTech shot mostly at younger people) as well Differences in study dates, Covid test regimes and age groups.

Like the Israeli data, the English data concluded that the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine was 96% effective against hospitalizations from the Delta variant after two doses. Similarly, after two doses, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was found to be 92% effective in preventing hospitalization. Initial data on the vaccine’s efficacy from clinical studies published last year by Pfizer and BioNTech showed that the vaccine was 95% effective.

Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick Medical School in the UK, told CNBC that cases of Covid in fully vaccinated people are a reminder that “no vaccine is 100% effective”.

“There will always be a proportion of people who are still susceptible to infection and disease,” he said on Monday.

“There are also two other factors that affect the effectiveness of the vaccine: (1) Waning immunity – we still don’t know how long the protective immunity induced by the vaccine will last. This is very likely a factor in older and more vulnerable people who vaccinated at the beginning of the vaccine rollout program, “he noted.

The second factor, he added, relates to “breakthrough infections in vaccinated individuals due to the more contagious Delta variant,” which made the case more important for booster programs, he said. In the case of booster programs, the jury has not yet made a decision, in the USA and Great Britain a decision has yet to be made

Breakthrough cases by number

It’s difficult to know the full extent of the “breakthrough” Covid cases, but figures from NBC News have shown that at least 125,000 fully vaccinated Americans have tested positive for Covid and 1,400 of them have died. Still, the 125,682 “breakthrough” cases in 38 states found by NBC News represented less than 0.08% of the more than 164.2 million people (and will be) fully vaccinated since the beginning of the year, or about every 1,300.

That is, the number of cases and deaths among the vaccinated is very low compared to the number among the unvaccinated. Health authorities, especially in the US, are urging unvaccinated people to register for a Covid vaccination.

Andrew Freedman, an infectious disease reader at Cardiff Medical School, UK, told CNBC that “breakthrough cases” are expected.

“The vaccines are very good at protecting against serious infections, hospitalizations, and death, but they are less effective at providing complete protection against infection, and we know that many people who have been fully vaccinated are still having delta infections in most cases get mild symptoms. ” “He said on Monday to CNBC’s” Squawk Box Europe “.

“What we don’t know is whether there is an additional booster will actually increase protection and reduce infections with delta variants, “he noted.

It must be emphasized that studies show that fully vaccinated people are much less likely to contract Covid – or even contract the virus at all.

New research from the UK published last Friday showed that people who were double-vaccinated were three times less likely to test positive for the coronavirus than those who were not vaccinated.

Analysis of the PCR test results in the REACT-1 study – a large coronavirus surveillance program in the UK led by Imperial College London – also suggested that fully vaccinated people may also be less likely to pass the virus on to others than those who were not vaccinated, because they have an average lower viral load and therefore probably less virus shedding.

Professor Paul Elliott, director of the Imperial School of Public Health’s REACT program, said the results highlight both the benefits and the limitations of Covid vaccines.

“These results confirm our previous data, which show that both doses of a vaccine offer good protection against infection. But we also see that there is still a risk of infection as no vaccine is 100% effective and we know that some are double vaccinated. “People can still get the virus,” he said.

Steven Riley, professor of infectious disease dynamics at Imperial, said “breakthrough infections” need further investigation in fully vaccinated people, especially as parts of the world are grappling with the spread of the Delta variant.

“The Delta variant is known to be highly contagious, and as a result, we can see from our data and others that breakthrough infections occur in fully vaccinated people. We need to better understand how contagious fully vaccinated people become infected as this will help better predict the situation in the months to come, and our results will help build a broader picture of it. “

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CDC warns as contagious as chickenpox, could make individuals sicker

CDC warns as contagious as chickenpox, may make people sicker

The CDC warned House lawmakers that the delta variant sweeping across the country is as contagious as chickenpox, has a longer transmission window than the original Covid-19 strain and may make older people sicker, even if they’ve been fully vaccinated.

The warning on Thursday was made in a confidential document that was reviewed by CNBC and authenticated by the federal health agency.

Delta, now in at least 132 countries and already the dominant form of the disease in the United States, is more transmissible than the common cold, the 1918 Spanish flu, smallpox, Ebola, MERS and SARS, according to the document. Only measles appears to spread faster than the variant.

“The war has changed,” officials of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote.

Healthcare personnel work in a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) intensive care unit where they are dealing with a surge in cases of the Delta variant at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah, U.S., in this handout photo provided July 23, 2021.

Intermountain Health | Reuters

Health officials said federal and state leaders should communicate to the public the benefits of getting vaccinated, adding the Covid vaccine shots reduce the risk of severe disease and death “10-fold or greater” and reduce the risk of infection “3-fold.”

Vaccines prevent more than 90% of severe disease, but may be less effective at preventing infection, they said, making community spread among the vaccinated more likely. The document said 35,000 symptomatic infections are occurring per week among 162 million vaccinated Americans.

Separately, the CDC has said 5,914 fully vaccinated people have been hospitalized or have died with Covid infections as of July 19, the most recent data available. Breakthrough cases, which occur in the fully vaccinated, happen more frequently in gatherings of people and in groups at risk of primary vaccine failure, according to the document.

Health officials also said federal and state leaders should consider vaccine mandates, particularly for health-care workers, universal masking and other community mitigation strategies. President Joe Biden announced on Thursday his administration would require federal workers to prove their vaccination status or submit to a series of rigorous safety protocols.

The documents presented to lawmakers came two days after the CDC reversed course on its prior guidance and recommended fully vaccinated Americans who live in areas with high Covid infection rates resume wearing face masks indoors. The guidelines cover about two-thirds of the U.S. population, according to a CNBC analysis.

“My first thoughts in reading it was that everything is a little bit worse than I thought,” said Dr. Robert Wachter, chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, who reviewed the document.

“This document and some of the other information says you’ve got to be open to the possibility that delta is worse in a number of ways and may upend some of our prior assumptions in ways that are meaningful,” he said.

Dr. Paul Offit, who advises the FDA on Covid vaccines, said Friday it is “profoundly” upsetting that the U.S. hasn’t gotten a critical portion of the population vaccinated, adding delta has “changed the game.” About half of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.

“Yesterday, you had 90,000 cases and close to 400 deaths,” Offit said. “Those are same numbers you saw last summer. I mean, last summer, you had a fully susceptible population and you had no vaccine.”

He said the CDC documents highlight just how “frustrated” federal officials are, given that there are safe and effective vaccines.

“The war isn’t against the virus anymore. It’s also at some level a war against ourselves,” he said.

People infected with the delta variant carry up to 1,000 times more virus in their nasal passages than other strains, resulting in higher transmissibility, even among the vaccinated, according to federal health officials. The CDC noted that studies in Canada, Singapore and Scotland found higher odds of hospitalization, ICU admission, oxygen needs, pneumonia or death among people infected with the delta variant.

While the variant, which surfaced in India, continues to hit unvaccinated people the hardest, some vaccinated people could be carrying higher levels of the virus than previously understood and are potentially transmitting it to others, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday. She added the variant behaves “uniquely differently from past strains of the virus.”

“This pandemic continues to pose a serious threat to the health of all Americans,” Walensky told reporters on a call.

Rep. James E. Clyburn, D-S.C., chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, said Walensky and White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci briefed the committee on the new data Thursday.

“I am deeply concerned about the rapidly increasing rates of coronavirus infections in states around the country that is being driven by the Delta variant,” Clyburn said in a statement, noting that Covid cases have increased by 145% in the last two weeks and hospitalizations and deaths are rising again, particularly in areas with low vaccination rates. “This sudden turn of events threatens to undermine the significant progress we have made this year to overcome the pandemic.”

–CNBC’s Rich Mendez, Robert Towey and Nate Rattner contributed to this report.

Download the full CDC presentation here.

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Vaccinated Folks Could Unfold the Virus, Although Hardly ever, C.D.C. Reviews

Vaccinated People May Spread the Virus, Though Rarely, C.D.C. Reports

In another unexpected and unwelcome twist in the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report on Friday strongly suggesting that fully immunized people with so-called breakthrough Delta variant infections can pass the virus on to others as easily as unvaccinated people People.

The vaccines remain highly effective against serious illness and death, and the agency said infections are comparatively rare in people who have been vaccinated. But the reveal follows a number of other recent discoveries about the Delta variant that have turned scientists’ understanding of the coronavirus on its head.

In the new report, which should explain the agency’s sudden revision of its masking recommendations for vaccinated Americans, the CDC described an outbreak in Provincetown, Massachusetts this month that rose rapidly to 470 cases in Massachusetts alone by Thursday.

Three quarters of those infected were fully immunized, and the Delta variant was found in most of the genetically analyzed samples. Vaccinated and unvaccinated people who were infected carried high levels of the virus, the agency reported.

“High viral loads indicate an increased risk of transmission and raised concerns that, unlike other variants, people infected with Delta can transmit the virus,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, on Friday.

The viral load data shows that even fully vaccinated people can spread the virus just as easily as unvaccinated people who become infected. “We believe this can be done on an individual level, which is why we have updated our recommendation,” said Dr. Walensky in an email to the New York Times earlier this week.

An internal agency document the Times received Thursday evening indicated even greater concern among CDC scientists, raising harrowing questions about the virus and its trajectory.

The delta variant is about as contagious as chickenpox, the document says, and universal masking may be necessary. Nevertheless, according to the agency, breakthrough infections are rare overall.

On Friday, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that the breakthrough rate among fully vaccinated people in states that store such data is less than 1 percent.

The accumulated research on the variant messes up the country’s plans to return to offices and schools this fall, and enlivens tough questions about masking, testing, and other precautions that Americans had hoped were behind them.

Government officials and scientists alike are seriously concerned that the results could shake confidence in the vaccines and shake the nation’s delayed vaccination campaign if Americans mistakenly conclude that the vaccinations are not effective.

Concerned about the delayed campaign, President Biden has ordered all federal employees to be vaccinated or tested for viruses on a weekly basis. Support for vaccination regulations is growing at some companies and in some parts of the country.

Developing research into the Delta variant has humiliated scientists around the world who are now asking themselves new questions about the virus that they had not considered.

They do not understand the circumstances that can increase the likelihood of a breakthrough infection, nor who is most at risk. They don’t know for sure that the Delta variant causes more severe illness in unvaccinated people who become infected, although early data suggests it.

“We spent so much time, energy, and treasure last year trying to figure out this damn virus and how it works and what it does,” said Dr. Robert Wachter, chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of California. San Francisco.

To learn how differently the Delta variant differs from the original virus is “just plain staggering,” he added. “The brain doesn’t like being pushed around like that.”

While breakthrough infections are rare, the new data suggest that those who were vaccinated may contribute to an increase in new infections – albeit likely to a far lesser extent than those who were not. Breakthrough infections have always been reckoned with, but until the arrival of the Delta variant, vaccinated Americans were not seen as drivers of its spread in the community.

“Delta teaches us to expect the unexpected,” said John Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. “There are aspects of what we now know that we don’t see coming.”

Updated

July 30, 2021, 7:36 p.m. ET

The finding is frightening, but vaccines remain the only reliable shield against the virus in whatever form. Even with the Delta variant, the vaccines largely prevent infection and significantly reduce the likelihood of serious illness or death in the event of an infection.

Nationwide, about 97 percent of people hospitalized with Covid-19 are unvaccinated, according to the CDC.

“Full vaccination is very protective, even against Delta,” said Angela Rasmussen, researcher at the Organization for Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada.

“Masks are a wise precaution, but most of the transmission occurs among the unvaccinated and that is still the most at risk,” she added.

The accumulated research underscores the urgency to accelerate the rate of vaccination in the United States and reduce the number of people susceptible to serious illnesses. This week, the vaccination rate in the European Union exceeded that in the US for the first time.

About 58 percent of Americans 12 years and older are fully vaccinated. The rate of vaccination has slowed to just over 500,000 people a day, although it has swung up slightly in recent weeks as infections pick up again.

In the UK, where the variant seems to have subsided after an increase, vaccinations have been introduced by age and a much higher proportion of people over 50 are vaccinated than in the United States.

Understand the state of vaccine mandates in the United States

Vaccination rates are much more inconsistent across the United States, said Bill Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. “The result is that what Delta is doing in the UK is not necessarily what it will be doing in places with very different vaccinations,” he said.

“Things are getting worse than they would have been,” without the variant, he added. “But they will be much better than they would have been without the vaccination.”

In its report on Friday, the CDC urged local and state officials in jurisdictions with even lower virus concentrations to consider precautions such as masking and restricting gatherings. The CDC internal document sounded more urgent, recommending that the agency “recognize that the war has changed”.

Indeed, the questions Americans now face seem almost inexhaustible, almost insoluble. Should companies allow employees to return to work when vaccinated people could occasionally spread the variant? What does this mean for shops, restaurants and schools? Are unmasked family celebrations off the table again?

With the number of daily cases averaging nearly 72,000 on Friday, the new data suggests vaccinated people with young children, aging parents, or friends and family with weak immune systems may need to wear masks to protect those around them – even in Communities with lower infection rates.

The Provincetown, Massachusetts outbreak germinated this month after more than 60,000 revelers celebrated the July 4th gathering in crowded bars, restaurants, guest houses and rental apartments, often indoors.

On July 3, there were no cases in the city or the surrounding district. By July 10, officials saw an increase and by July 17 there were 177 cases per 100,000 people. The outbreak has since spread to nearly 900 people across the country.

“Vaccines are like waders,” said Dr. Rasmussen. “They keep you dry when you wade through a river, but when you get too deep, water starts flowing over it. That seems to have happened with the Massachusetts eruption. “

Three-quarters of citizens linked to the outbreak reported a cough, headache, sore throat, or fever – symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection – and 74 percent were known to be fully immunized.

Of the five people hospitalized, four were fully vaccinated – one with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and three with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Two of the vaccinated patients had previous illnesses. The genetic analysis of 133 cases identified the delta variant in 119 cases and a closely related virus in another case.

Scientists even warned last year that the vaccines may not completely prevent infection or transmission. However, experts didn’t expect these infections to play a significant role in the fight against the virus, nor did they anticipate how quickly the Delta variant would rip across the country.

“Two months ago I thought we were over the top,” said Dr. Guardian. In San Francisco, the most heavily vaccinated city in the country, 77 percent of people over the age of 12 are vaccinated.

And yet the hospital he works in has grown significantly, from a Covid-19 case on June 1 to 40 now. 15 of the patients are in intensive care.

“When a 70 or 75 percent immunity doesn’t protect the community, I think it’s very difficult to extrapolate what happens to a place that is 30 percent vaccinated,” said Dr. Guardian. “Humility is perhaps the most important thing here.”

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CDC research reveals 74% of individuals contaminated in Massachusetts Covid outbreak had been absolutely vaccinated

CDC study shows 74% of people infected in Massachusetts Covid outbreak were fully vaccinated

Boston EMS medics work to resuscitate a patient on the way to the ambulance amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Boston, Massachusetts, April 27, 2020.

Brian Snyder | Reuters

About three-fourths of people infected in a Massachusetts Covid-19 outbreak were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to new data published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new data, published in the U.S. agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, also found that fully vaccinated people who get infected carry as much of the virus in their nose as unvaccinated people, and could spread it to other individuals.

“This finding is concerning and was a pivotal discovery leading to CDC’s updated mask recommendation,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. “The masking recommendation was updated to ensure the vaccinated public would not unknowingly transmit virus to others, including their unvaccinated or immunocompromised loved ones.”

On Tuesday, the CDC reversed course on its prior guidance and recommended fully vaccinated Americans who live in areas with high Covid infection rates resume wearing face masks indoors. The guidelines cover about two-thirds of the U.S. population, according to a CNBC analysis.

While the delta variant continues to hit unvaccinated people the hardest, some vaccinated people could be carrying higher levels of the virus than previously understood and are potentially transmitting it to others, Walensky told reporters on a call Tuesday. She added the variant behaves “uniquely differently from past strains of the virus.”

A CDC document that was reviewed by CNBC warned that the delta variant sweeping across the country is as contagious as chickenpox, has a longer transmission window than the original Covid strain and may make older people sicker, even if they’ve been fully vaccinated.

Delta, now in at least 132 countries and already the dominant form of the disease in the United States, is more transmissible than the common cold, the 1918 Spanish flu, smallpox, Ebola, MERS and SARS, according to the document. Only measles appears to spread faster than the variant.

The data published Friday was based on 469 cases of Covid associated with multiple summer events and large public gatherings held in July in Barnstable County, Mass., according to the CDC. The events were held in an unnamed town in Barnstable, which encompasses Cape Cod and is just outside Martha’s Vineyard. Approximately three quarters, or 74%, of the cases occurred in fully vaccinated people who had completed a two-dose course of the mRNA vaccines or received a single dose of Johnson & Johnson’s.

Overall, 274 vaccinated patients with a breakthrough infection were symptomatic, according to the CDC. The most common side effects were cough, headache, sore throat, muscle pain and fever. Among five Covid patients who were hospitalized, four were fully vaccinated, according to the agency. No deaths were reported.

Testing identified the delta variant in 90% of specimens from 133 patients.

The CDC the data has limitations. The agency noted that as population-level vaccination coverage increases, vaccinated persons are likely to represent a larger proportion of Covid cases. Additionally, asymptomatic breakthrough infections might be underrepresented because of detection bias, the agency said.

The CDC also said the report is “insufficient” to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the authorized vaccines against Covid, including the delta variant, during this outbreak.