Vaccination offers strong protection against Delta variant

New reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have underscored the effectiveness of the COVID vaccines against severe outcomes from the virus.

“The incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalization, and death is higher in unvaccinated than vaccinated persons,” the report summary states. Therefore “getting vaccinated protects against severe illness from COVID-19, including the Delta variant.”

Even after U.S. infections were overwhelmingly of the Delta variant, fully vaccinated individuals are five times less likely to get infected, more than ten times less likely to die of COVID than unvaccinated individuals and more than ten times less likely to be hospitalized.

The highly contagious Delta variant is the predominant strain of the virus in the United States and one of the most infectious respiratory diseases seen by experts. It’s twice as contagious as previous strains and makes up more than 83% of cases in the U.S.

To complete the study, the CDC looked at reported COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from April 4 to July 17 suffered by adults 18 years and older across 13 U.S. jurisdictions, comparing time frames within those dates to capture the effectiveness against the Delta variant.

"As we have shown in study after study, vaccination works," said CDC director Rochelle Walenksy on September 10.

You can find out more about the safe and effective vaccines—including where to get a shot—at AFSCME31.org/vax.