CDC: Delta Variant Is As Contagious As Chickenpox

The Washington Post reports:

The delta variant of the coronavirus appears to cause more severe illness than earlier variants and spreads as easily as chickenpox, according to an internal federal health document that argues officials must “acknowledge the war has changed.”

It captures the struggle of the nation’s top public health agency to persuade the public to embrace vaccination and prevention measures, including mask-wearing, as cases surge across the United States and new research suggests vaccinated people can spread the virus.

The document strikes an urgent note, revealing the agency knows it must revamp its public messaging to emphasize vaccination as the best defense against a variant so contagious that it acts almost like a different novel virus, leaping from target to target more swiftly than Ebola or the common cold.

Read the full article.

Delta variant infections are probably more severe, CDC document says, citing data showing vaccinated people can spread coronavirus https://t.co/PRJiMxRnpz

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 29, 2021

Breaking News: The Delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox and may be spread by vaccinated people as easily as the unvaccinated, an internal C.D.C. report said.https://t.co/hDs1FOIPMt

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 30, 2021