Sections of the US could become 'breeding grounds' for potentially more Covid-19 variants, expert says

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Tue, 2021-07-06 12:23 — mike kraft

These parts of the US could become 'breeding grounds' for potentially more Covid-19 variants, expert says Out of the Covid-19 pandemic, two Americas are emerging: One protected by vaccines and the other still vulnerable to infection -- and experts say progress made across the entire US is being threatened by low-vaccinated regions. Madeline Holcombe, CNN CNN

(CNN) Out of the Covid-19 pandemic, two Americas are emerging: One protected by vaccines and the other still vulnerable to infection -- and experts say progress made across the entire US is being threatened by low-vaccinated regions.

"We're already starting to see places with low vaccination rates starting to have relatively big spikes from the Delta variant. We've seen this in Arkansas, Missouri, Wyoming ... those are the places where we're going to see more hospitalizations and deaths as well, unfortunately," Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, Dr. Ashish Jha, told CNN.

"And any time you have large outbreaks, it does become a breeding ground for potentially more variants."

Parts of the South, Southwest and Midwest are starting to see spikes in cases, and many of those states -- like Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi -- are among those with the lowest rates of vaccination, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recent Covid-19 case rates are an average of three times higher in states that have vaccinated a smaller share of their residents than the United States overall, CDC data shows.

If there is another surge, Dr. Megan Ranney, associate professor of emergency medicine at Brown University, said young unvaccinated adults could be a big part of the problem.

"We've already seen that the highest number of infections over the past few months have been in those younger adults," Ranney said. "These are the people that thought they were invincible."

But after weeks of declining cases and with a surplus of vaccine doses, there should not be an uptick in infection in the US, CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen said Monday.

"We have the ability to stop Covid in its tracks," Wen said.

Only 47.4% of the US population is fully vaccinated against the virus, according to CDC data. And with so much transmission among those that are hesitant to get vaccinated, Wen said it is a good idea for vaccinated people in high transmission areas to continue wearing masks indoors.

While some experts have held that vaccines provide good enough protection that vaccinated people can forgo face coverings, the transmission rates have made others more cautious. ...

One Missouri hospital has been under such strain with cases surging in the region that Covid-19 patients are being transferred to hospitals in different health systems.

The health system, CoxHealth, currently has 94 patients hospitalized for Covid-19, Kaitlyn McConnell, a CoxHealth public relations director, told CNN Monday. At Cox South, a hospital located in Springfield, Missouri, 12 Covid-19 patients were transferred to other facilities in the region between Friday and Monday morning. ...

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