Just as things were starting to open up, a new strain of COVID-19—the Delta variant—is causing concern as cases are once again rising in certain sections of the U.S.

Since we have been receiving a lot of questions about the Delta variant, here’s what we know:

• This new Delta variant is highly contagious – about twice as transmissible as the original virus.
• Nationally right now, about 97% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 99% of COVID-19 deaths are among the unvaccinated.
• While it is true that you can still contract the Delta variant of COVID-19 if you are fully vaccinated, people are typically asymptomatic or experience mild symptoms.
• While the Delta variant is the latest, there are more unknown variants that could still make an appearance. To continue getting back to “normal,” we need a much more significant portion of the population vaccinated and we all need to do our part to ensure that happens.

It is also important to remember that all COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S. have been rigorously tested to ensure safety. Our clinical teams have also spent a significant amount of time evaluating the safety of the vaccines so that we can do our best to help our patients better understand the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines.

If you have questions on COVID-19, any new variants, or the COVID-19 vaccines, please reach out to your R-Health doctor. We are here to help.