Delta mutation threatens children worldwide

In England, where the school year lasts until mid-July, 250,000 children have had to leave school since last week due to testing positive for nCoV.

Israel, the world leader in vaccination, but has only vaccinated 2-4% of children aged 12-15, also saw the number of nCoV infections in the education system triple.

Doctors say people who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 have a high level of safety against this new strain of nCoV.

Students in a classroom in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA, on April 13.

According to professor of epidemiology Joshua Petrie at the University of Michigan in the US, along with low vaccination rates for adolescents, the rise of the Delta variant could increase the dangers for unvaccinated children.

`This is one of the most dangerous periods in the pandemic for unvaccinated people, including large numbers of younger populations,` said Taylor Nelson, an infectious disease expert at the University of Missouri in the US.

The US, which has vaccinated at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine for two-thirds of the population, cannot avoid the rapid attack of Delta, the variant that is 60% more infectious than the Alpha variant that appeared.

The Delta variant now accounts for 20% of new infections in the US, up from 10% two weeks ago.

`The virus spread like wildfire in communities with fewer vaccinated people,` Nelson commented.

After an outbreak in Mesa County, Colorado, experts estimate that more than half of the total number of unrecovered nCoV infections in this state today is due to the Delta variant.

The alarming infection situation has prompted President Joe Biden’s administration to increasingly push to increase Covid-19 vaccination rates for adolescents, especially after the White House admitted last week it may not meet its vaccination target.

Some health experts are especially concerned about students in southern states.

Despite the threat from the Delta strain, Robin Lake, director of the Center for Public Education Innovation at the University of Washington, said that in-person classes should still be a priority next school year, because instruction from

For this to happen safely, when the new school year opens in the fall, Professor Petrie believes it is necessary to apply epidemic prevention measures that have become familiar, implemented throughout the 2020-2021 school year.

`We will still apply all the same measures as in the past year and a half, such as wearing masks and ventilation,` the expert said, emphasizing that the level of virus infection in the local community will help determine

However, regardless of the local pandemic situation, Nelson still believes that vaccination is the best way to protect children, at least for the group eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine.

`Unfortunately, I realize we are not at the end of the pandemic, so we need to increase children’s immunity as much as possible,` Nelson recommended.