2) It’s critical to recognize that the #DeltaVariant is rising underneath the decrease of the #AlphaVariant#B117. Many have been complacent about this. But Delta is doubling every week now in 🇬🇧!
3) India 🇮🇳 doctors have been sharing concerns that #DeltaVariant is more severe / affecting more kids. Singapore 🇸🇬 MOH is also warning it is affecting children a lot.
4) Yet UK 🇬🇧 govt made a critical mistake of no masks in schools and no improvements in ventilation or air quality.
5) So what do we now do? Here is what this means for infection control of the new #DeltaVariant worldwide. Do not get complacent.
7) Here are the warnings from UK experts. The details of how #DeltaVariant has 2.5x higher hospitalizations risk than #AlphaVariant#B117 is detailed in the below thread 🧵
9) While the vaccines do mostly work on the #DeltaVariant, the main problem is that 1 dose simply just isn’t enough anymore. Here is the latest LANCET published study. It walks thru the evidence how 1 dose is so weak. 1 dose strategy countries (cough Canada 🇨🇦, cough) must adapt.
10) Because #DeltaVariant starts at a much lower neutralization, its efficacy drop when adding co-morbidities could be even more steep. See below how these two compound together…
11) for those who still don’t believe it… “show me the hospitalizations” you ask? Well here it is… exponential rise in hospitalizations in the UK 🇬🇧 now because of #DeltaVariant despite >70% one dose, and 42% full vaccinated… hospital numbers don’t lie.
12) So…. Is it surging in the US? Ummm, yeah. Really damn fast too. It’s the fastest growing variant currently, and #DeltaVariant projected by models to become dominant in the US by July… just like in UK’s footsteps. Hence let’s watch carefully what happened in UK and India.
13) In case the above graphic wasn’t clear… #DeltaVariant#B16172 is colored with magenta in the modeling of how dominant it will soon become in across many states.
14) There is also some concerns about reinfections… not definitive yet, but usually reinfection risks correlate with vaccine efficacy/neutralization changes
15) As Dr Fauci warned recently: “The problem you get into … is that a single dose only provides about ~30% effectiveness [against #DeltaVariant]—so that is really an issue you gotta be careful”, as Fauci tells @nehakhanna_07 on @IndiaAheadNews.
16) Here is the awesome full length 5 min video on the #DeltaVariant (threaded in 3 parts above) on YouTube by @VickiGSP of @IndependentSage. Hats 🎩 off to Vicki!
17) In case you need more data on the #DeltaVariant and kids in UK… this is the contact tracing of positive cases.
21) Bad - #DeltaVariant is now up to 91% of all #SARSCoV2 samples in the UK 🇬🇧. Total domination of the #B16172 is in sight. It replaced the previously fast #alphavariant but which is not fast enough anymore compared to Delta.
22) politicians often act too late. Scientists often too shy to shout from the roof tops early…. What you get is inaction by politicians and vocalization by scientists until too late.
So I’m here trying to raise the alarm— because there is a critical need for early action.
23) Cases are rising, especially in the unvaccinated. This is why we need urgently 2 doses + mitigation.
24) is it a coincidence that UK 🇬🇧 govt always falls behind in reacting to #COVID19 surges? No. It’s bad leadership.
25) look at this sharp takeover of #DeltaVariant in becoming dominant in the UK 🇬🇧 — we are rather certain it will happen in many other countries too. We cannot ignore this.
27) I keep staring at this table… 23 deaths among unvaccinated, while 12 deaths in fully vaccinated. Approximately ~40% of UK is 2-dose vaccinated (lower earlier)… but that is still a quite a vaccine breakthrough number… 12 vs 23. Have to keep eyes peeled on #DeltaVariant
28) I’m not the only one worried about these weird numbers with breakthrough cases with the #DeltaVariant. 30% among fully 2-dose vaccinated is a lot… granted that elderly are more likely fully vaccinated but then that points to waning immunity in elderly.
30) welp—The #DeltaVariant is soon going to take over Europe says WHO Europe chief, who just urgently issued a new warning. Delta is surging in the US as well now.
31) serious—Outbreak even w/ 2 dose of mRNA vaccines—🇨🇦 hospital—16 patients & 6 healthcare staff #DeltaVariant positive. 6/16 patients & 5/6 HCWs had received 2 doses of #COVID19 vaccine; 7 patients & 1 healthcare worker had 1 dose. 1 patient now in ICU. cbc.ca/news/canada/ca…
32) this #DeltaVariant emerging is why we need to still mask even if vaccinated. And there is suggested by top vaccinologist @PeterHotez that a 3rd shot booster is maybe even needed because of delta.
⚠️PFAS IS BACK—recall the EPA plan to ban dangerous forever chemicals from drinking water ➡️Well, Trump WH just cancelled it… once again allowing big corporations to discharge PFAS into rivers. PFAS cause cancers & many diseases. Does this make American healthy again?
2) “There really isn’t a system within the human body that isn’t affected by PFAS. They are toxic in many ways, but they’re also very long-lived. They’re designed not to break down in the environment or not to break down to heat and chemical stress.” michiganpublic.org/politics-gover…
3) CDC also just got banned from seeking any advice or input from the WHO — CDC can’t communicate or even enter any WHO building anymore. Perfect way to politically isolate CDC from outside science.
NEW—CDC officially ordered by Trump WH to cease working with the @WHO, effective immediately. This is the first time in almost 77 years since WHO’s founding after World War 2. This is a dark day.
2) the memo said the stop-work policy applied to “all CDC staff engaging with WHO through technical working groups, coordinating centers, advisory boards, cooperative agreements or other means — in person or virtual.”
3) It also says @CDCgov staff are not allowed to visit @WHO offices.
CDC ordered to stop working with WHO immediately, upending expectations of an extended withdrawal
🛑JUST CANCELLED—Trump HHS has just cancelled key meetings of the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB) & CDC’s Environmental Public Health Threats meeting—➡️all because of Trump WH’s new blackout of all HHS external comms. My god.
2) Trump WH is literally blocking all of this… including all CDC science reports and all FDA public alerts!
NEW—Trump WH has blocked all CDC science reports (eg MMWR) & suspended all CDC / FDA / NIH external communications of all HHS agencies until further notice... including all FDA & CDC Health Alert warnings & all social media. Public health be damned.
⚠️BREAKING—ICU Hospitalized human bird flu case in Canada now officially confirmed as H5N1. Worse, it is the same 2.3.4.4b virus clade (variant group) as the one found in BC🇨🇦 poultry and in Washington state🇺🇸! The hospitalized teenager (with no pre existing conditions) had no animal contact, does not live on farm, had “deterioration quite rapid” and now critical in ICU with ARDS. Canada officials says infectious period is 2 days **prior to symptoms** (ie asymptomatic transmission) and infectious up to 10 days.
2) Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg confirmed that the individual has avian influenza H5N1 canada.ca/en/public-heal…
3) details…
⚠️BAD UPDATE—BIRD FLU HOSPITALIZATION IN CANADIAN TEEN
Summary 🧵 of the live press conference with Canada’s British Columbia health officer.
📌The teen is in intensive care.
📌Condition is ARDS
📌Teen was healthy prior; no underlying conditions