Thread by @DrEricDing

It’s coming—#DeltaVariant is now >96% dominant in 3 major counties (UK, Russia, Portugal). It is surging exponentially in the US at now 31% of all cases, up from ~10% just a week ago. The #COVID19 rise & divergence hidden by fast dropping #AlphaVariant. 🧵
on.ft.com/3xzeFpZ

2) Notice the strong divergence of #DeltaVariant vs #Alphavariant. This was why the rise of Delta was hidden so long underneath total case counts dropping and plateauing

3) this was hospitalization in the UK one week earlier. Very different than before #DeltaVariant domination. ~30% of deaths even among those fully 2 dose vaccinated, according to PHE (England’s CDC). This is the Delta.

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1404379339144245253

4) let this sink in - #DeltaVariant is still penetrating for vaccine breakthroughs that 10% of all hospitalized #COVID19 cases in last week was among those with 2 dose + 14 days fully vaccinated (2/3rd of UK is AstraZeneca vaccinated)

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1406421721717030916

5) One dose of the vaccine is insufficient now. Two doses much more protection, but even then there is an 8% attenuation. Also this is the average of AZ+Pfizer… the actual 2 dose AstraZeneca efficacy according to PHE is only 60%.

6) here is the relative growth rate of #DeltaVariant versus all other major variants in the past. Delta #B16172 is leaps and bounds faster than any other variant of #SARSCoV2 to date.

7) France is doing no better “While in the UK about 46 per cent of the population has been fully immunised, vaccination rates in most countries in mainland Europe are hovering at between 20 per cent and 30 per cent. About 26% of the population in France has been fully vaccinated.

8) “French authorities are currently trying to contain an outbreak in the Landes region, near the Spanish border, where 125 cases of the Delta variant have been confirmed by genetic sequencing & another 130 are suspected, representing about 30% of recent infections in the area.”

9) “Clusters of the Delta variant have also been identified in recent weeks in the southern suburbs of Paris and an art school in Strasbourg. “

10) there are now #DeltaVariant outbreaks popping up everywhere — even in the most heavily vaccinated country in the world — Israel. Let that sink in!! And Israel is mostly Pfizer (88% efficacy for #Delta in one study), not even AZ

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1406441282860429315

11) The reason #DeltaVariant is quickly dominating all over the world (from India 🇮🇳 to UK 🇬🇧 and countless countries), is because it is by far the fastest and most contagious variant to date. Faster by leaps and bounds.

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1405633531695489027

12) UK hospitalizations soaring. So how did UK miss the damn #DeltaVariant sneak up up on them without reacting? Politics aside, it was ignoring the data because the deceptive drop in Alpha mixed with rise of #DeltaVariant - to create temporary appearance of flattening— see video

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1403132149243461635

14) Notably, it was this phenomenon with dropping #AlphaVariant and rising #DeltaVariant that lulled a lot of naive govt leaders into complacency - because “so what, I don’t see cases rising” is how most uneducated leaders naively react—to their peril.

Figure by @VickiGSP

15) It is high time CDC takes decisive action. That’s why @endCOVID19 & @CovidActionGrp are petitioning CDC to “reinstate mask-wearing indoors regardless of vaccine status, guidance for vaccination verification, & resume breakthrough case identification.”
endcoronavirus.org/blog/cdc-unive…

16) Thus, please share this link— and ask friends and family to petition the CDC for urgent action. Nobody is asking for lockdowns right now — but we want urgent action so that we can **avoid** any damn lockdowns. Vaccinate 2 doses and mask indoors again.
endcoronavirus.org/blog/cdc-unive…

17) please sign the petition to CDC for urgent #DeltaVariant action. It is by @endCOVID19 & @CovidActionGrp and a “coalition of scientists, public health officials, epidemiologists, health care workers, educators, advocates, parents, & concerned citizens:
change.org/p/centers-for-…

18) Just how is #DeltaVariant spreading so much faster than any #SARSCoV2 seen before? Because it spread even via “fleeting” contact. This was not just documented once, but *twice*, and confirmed via 🧬 genomic sequencing and even with security cameras

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1406779894785351688?s=21

19) US is now at 31% #DeltaVariant. Aside from New England, most of the US is not higher in fully vaccinated than UK 🇬🇧. And the Deep South and certain Mountain zone states very low vaccination rate. This bodes poorly for when #DeltaVariant surges more. And it will.

20) As result of likely low vaccination, we are seeing both positivity and cases in Missouri. The South needs to vaccinate much much more. And fast. The window is closing while #DeltaVariant spreads further. google.com/amp/s/amp.kans…

21) Did the #DeltaVariant really surge from ~10% a week ago to 31% now that fast? Yes. 6 days ago: Former Biden adviser @ASlavitt: “The delta variant is about 10% of all the cases in U.S. and at some point, it’s going to become the majority.” #vaccinate

22) why else be vigilant, More than 350 doctors and medical workers in Indonesia who received SinoVac’s #COVID19 vaccine have tested positive. Most are asymptomatic but dozens hospitalized with a high fever and other symptoms. Which variant? #DeltaVariant.
webmd.com/vaccines/covid…

23) US has about 1 month before it hits UK 🇬🇧 #DeltaVariant levels… let’s don’t do UK complacency and ignore the rise of Delta until too late.

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1407319083234758658