Those who are fully vaccinated are well protected, but experts say masks may be advisable for some people in some situations.
With many people vaccinated, masks mostly shed and low case numbers, it’s been easy this summer to feel like Mainers might be turning a corner in the fight against COVID-19, but health officials are warning against declaring victory just yet, with a turn for the worse in case trends and a new, highly contagious variant in play. The delta variant– a highly transmissible form of the disease first detected in India that has led to recent lockdowns in other countries, including Australia in the United Kingdom– has officially made its way to Maine. As of July 9, the official count of delta variant cases in Maine is five, with an additional five cases under investigation. MaineHealth, the state’s largest hospital network, had reported as many as 18 cases of the variant as of last week and has forwarded the hospital network’s samples to the Maine CDC for full genetic sequencing. The variant, also known as B.1.617.2, is especially dangerous to unvaccinated and immunocompromised people, so as cases drive up across the country, health officials in other states like California and Missouri, as well as World Health Organization officials, are urging vaccinated individuals to once again don their masks to prevent transmitting the virus to those who are most at risk. People who are unvaccinated, who have only had one dose of the vaccine, or who are immunocompromised or immunosuppressed and elderly people with underlying health conditions, even if they are vaccinated, are most at risk. People who fall into those categories are encouraged to continue wearing masks, keeping six feet of distance and following all other coronavirus mitigation practices. The vaccines are doing their job and remain the number one source of protection against COVID-19. They are protecting people from serious disease, hospitalization and death, but officials are still seeing some “breakthrough” cases of COVID cropping up in patients who are fully vaccinated. According to Mills, the majority have been either asymptomatic or with mild infection or are immunocompromised or elderly with underlying health conditions. As vaccine rates increase, it’s likely that there will be more positive cases in people who are fully vaccinated, she said in her post. This is a matter of “denominators,” rather than proof the vaccine has lost its effectiveness, she said.
