4 Things To Know About The Delta Variant Of Coronavirus In NJ

NEW JERSEY — Just how concerned should New Jersey residents be about the delta variant of coronavirus?

The delta variant is the variant first discovered in India, and is now here in the United States and across the world. It is one of the dozens of new coronavirus strains that have surfaced worldwide in the past few months.

Researchers are still working to determine whether or not the delta variant causes more severe disease. However, what is known is that the delta variant is very contagious: The delta variant is now responsible for one in four new U.S. coronavirus cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and the agency called it "hypertransmissible" on Thursday.

In fact, last week the World Health Organization urged vaccinated and unvaccinated people across the world to begin wearing masks indoors again, specifically to stop the spread of the delta variant.

Here are four things to know about the delta variant:

1. How widespread in New Jersey is it?

As of June 12, the delta variant makes up 15.6 percent of all COVID-19 cases in New Jersey, according to the state's coronavirus dashboard on variants. But June 19 it made up 26 percent of all new cases. This is out of 13,888 total coronavirus cases in the state at that time.

June 19 was the most recent date the NJ Health Department posted data.

2. Will New Jersey consider another mask mandate?

No. As the delta variant spreads across the world, Israel reinstated its national indoor mask mandate, and Los Angeles County also reinstated its indoor mask mandate, according to NJ.com.

But no U.S. state seems poised to bring back mask mandates. Instead, American states and governors are urging people to get vaccinated against coronavirus.

More than 4.9 million New Jersey residents are fully vaccinated, surpassing Gov. Phil Murphy's vaccination goal.

"With the emergence and spread of the highly contagious and dangerous Delta variant, now is the time to get vaccinated, especially if you are a younger person," said Gov. Murphy on Wednesday. "Because we see from reports across the country, never mind here in New Jersey, that this variant is hitting young people particularly hard. Do it for your health and the health and safety of your family."

Dr. Christina Tan, New Jersey's state epidemiologist, theorized that New Jersey's high vaccination rates may be what's keeping delta variant numbers relatively low in New Jersey. In California, delta makes up 23 percent of state's new case as of late June.

"Vaccination rates are our friend. In general, that increasing vaccination coverage will definitely help stem the spread of variants," Dr. Tan said Wednesday. "Please get vaccinated. Until you're fully vaccinated, make sure that you take the appropriate precautions like masks and social distancing. Just to say that we are seeing an increase in the proportion of delta variant not only throughout the U.S., delta is the second-most abundant variant nationally right now preceded by the alpha variant, B117. Here in New Jersey, we're starting to see an increase in the proportion of delta variant as well. We have to do our part to help stem that spread."

3. Are vaccinated New Jerseyeans protected from this variant?

As far as researchers know so far, yes.

"There's no reason to assume that these variants will completely escape an immune response from vaccinated people," Dr. Timothy Brewer, an infectious disease expert and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, told the San Francisco, CA Patch in June. "For example, we know that variants that have similar mutations, such as the South Africa one, there are data to show that, particularly the mRNA vaccines, still provide protective immunity — albeit at a lower level — so I would assume they'll similarly perform against the delta variant."

So it's still possible to become infected, but the chances of severe disease are low.

4. The delta variant is a 'variant of concern.' What does that mean?

The CDC labeled the delta variant a "variant of concern" in June.

The variant is reportedly twice as likely to send an unvaccinated infected person to the hospital as the alpha variant first detected in the United Kingdom, according to a Monday report published in The Lancet.

With reporting from Kat Shuster/San Francisco, CA Patch