Nail-Biting Time In Dallas As Variants Spread, Vaccinations Slow

DALLAS, TX —As Lenny Kravitz once sang, "It ain't over 'till it's over."

So it is with the coronavirus pandemic, which continues to concern Texas medical experts.

Two more COVID-19 related deaths were reported Monday alongside 106 new infections, with health experts anxiously watching variants increase and vaccinations slow to a trickle.

To date according to County Judge Clay Jenkins, only 56.7 percent of county residents have been inoculated with at least one shot — far shy of the lowest rung of the herd immunity ladder set at 70 percent.

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President Biden ha set that as a goal for July 4, but Dallas and Texas are nowhere on track to achieving it. Meanwhile, public gatherings are on the increase and look to be back at pre-pandemic levels for the upcoming holiday.

That's worrisome, say experts, because it puts variants in contact with unvaccinated Texans. And the more time the variants have to spread among an unvaccinated population, the more the virus will mutate and become resistant to existing treatments.

Texans are well past ready to close the book on COVID-19, but the virus may not be done with Texas. Two weeks after Independence Day brings throngs together throughout the metroplex, the drive-through vaccination site at Fair Park is set to close.

And all of this is happening as the delta variant — a strain more contagious and with more severe symptoms — is closer to becoming the dominant virus in North Texas.

According to the latest data from UT Southwestern Medical Center, the delta variant has doubled in the samples analyzed from May 28 through June 3. By last Thursday, there were 110 cases of the original alpha variant and six of the delta variant in Dallas County. The delta variant is believed to have originated in India.

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