Bad reporting and habits from early in the pandemic are fueling a reflexive panic about the Delta variants of the COVID-19 virus.
Fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks. Their bodies already have the antibodies to fight off COVID-19. They may still be at risk of infection, but the virus’ effects on their bodies are extremely likely to be minimal. Full vaccination reduces the odds of severe illness, hospitalization, and death to an extreme long shot. So far, full vaccination provides sufficient protection from all of the variants, including the Delta variant.
These sorts of mundane, self-evidently true, scientifically verified statements can set off furious reactions and denunciations as disinformation on social media. And once again, as predicted, vaccinated people are being asked or told to wear masks in order to protect those who have chosen to not get vaccinated – an absurd position that contends that you, a responsible person who got vaccinated when given the opportunity, must continue to make changes to your life and habits to accommodate those who refuse to take the same actions.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, a certain segment of the population has shifted into a mentality where caution is good, more caution is better, and the maximum conceivable caution is best. The progress in vaccinations this year, and the rapid decline in U.S. cases and deaths, almost forced these ultra-cautious to acknowledge things were getting better, the masks could safely come off, Americans could start gathering in groups again, and the siege mentality that had dominated almost every aspect of life needed to end.
But the Delta variant grabbed headlines, giving these anxiety-ridden neurotic folks the excuse to pretend we’re right back in March 2020 again, and everyone who walks down the street without a mask is being wildly irresponsible and is a threat to others’ health. To them, good news is actually bad news – it would require them to end their self-appointed reign of freelance health inspector of strangers.
Fortunately, all the studies so far agree that most Covid-19 vaccines are very effective at keeping people out of the hospital and have generally protected against the Delta variant. Israel’s Ministry of Health estimated that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is about 93 percent effective in preventing serious illness and hospitalization.
“Their overall implications are consistent: that protection against severe disease remains very high,” said Naor Bar-Zeev, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
I know, I know, the New York Times is part of that sinister right-wing cabal downplaying the threat of the pandemic.*
And the phenomenon of reflexive panic is exacerbated by headlines like this one, over at the notoriously inaccurate The Hill, declaring, “Pfizer vaccine less effective against delta variant.” The first sentence clarifies that the data is not so dire: “A study conducted in Israel found that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is somewhat less effective against the more infectious delta variant, though it was still found to be effective at preventing severe illness.”
*Okay, back in early February 2020, the Times really did run op-eds downplaying the threat of the pandemic.