NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - The spread of the delta variant of COVID-19 is getting worse in South Florida, and experts say infections are not slowing down.
Health experts said because the delta variant is more infectious and has a larger viral count when it spreads person to person, we won’t see an end to the spike until mid-September or later unless we step up our mitigation efforts.
“When the delta variant of SARS-Cov-2 binds to a cell, it does so more effectively, and once inside of the cell, it reproduces more rapidly, and then it has this horrible extra ability to more easily get directly from one cell to the next,” said Dr. Aileen Marty, infectious disease expert at Florida International University.
It’s those characteristics of the delta variant that has fueled the summer surge of COVID-19.
“If you have a vaccine that has given you strong antibodies that can neutralize and keep that virus from ever getting into the first cell, then it can’t slip and get into the next cell,” Marty said.
That’s why Marty says younger and younger people are ending up in the hospital. They’re unprotected and battling a much more aggressive virus.
“The vaccination rate in younger people is much less than the vaccination rate in older individuals,” she said. “This virus produces so many more viral particles that when you inhale it, you’re inhaling more numbers of aggressors. Fighting against more than one thing at a time, your chances of winning are better than when you’re fighting hundreds at a time.”
Over the past few weeks, Florida has continually shattered its past pandemic records. On Wednesday, according to federal data, more than 15,000 Floridians were hospitalized with COVID.
More patients and cases are putting a strain on our healthcare system with the surge expected to climb through next month as the CDC urges all pregnant women to roll up their sleeves due to the high risk of pregnancy complications.
“The best way to reduce the chaos that comes with the virus is to vaccinate,” said Cleveland Clinic pediatrician Dr. Camille Sabella.
If you did have COVID prior and you’re hoping that you still have natural immunity, Marty said if it has been longer than six months, most likely, those cells that would fight off the delta variant are now dead.
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