WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Heading into the holiday weekend, the Biden administration wanted 70% of American adults vaccinated. We're falling short of that goal, and now, the new COVID-19 Delta variant has some health experts concerned for those who are not vaccinated.
Both Wake Forest Baptist Health and Novant Health did virtual COVID-19 updates on Thursday ahead of the holiday weekend.
"Right now in the Triad, the summer going into July, we're going into a bit of a nice spot," Dr. Christopher Ohl said.
Dr. Ohl is the Infection Disease Expert with Wake Forest Baptist Health and he said still have fun during the 4th of July, but be aware of the new Delta variant and the fact COVID-19 is still around.
"I think our cases will go up at the end summer and we'll have to be nimble and respond to that," Ohl said. "It's going to get in the way of being normal so if that's not a reason to get vaccinated, I'm not sure what is."
The main key to staying safe hasn't changed.
"If we can get our vaccination percentages up higher than they are now, the Delta variant will be a minor hiccup for us rather than something that's going to set us back," Ohl said. "We have some time before the Delta variant will start to be a problem here."
Dr. David Priest is the Chief Safety, Quality, and Epidemiology Officer for Novant Health. His concerns after the holiday weekend are a rise in hospitalizations and more serious cases.
"What we know about the Delta variant is that it's more transmittable, the way it interacts with human cells is more efficient and may be more likely to invade the immune system in the unvaccinated," Priest said.
Priest said the Delta variant cases seems to be doubling every two weeks, making it even more important to get your shot, sooner rather than later.
"I know we feel like we're in a stage now that those who wanted the vaccine have gotten it, those who didn't want it have not gotten it, but I would ask those who are unvaccinated to think again about this," Ohl said.
Ohl said if the number of vaccinations doesn't rise, he sees cases going up as the summer continues. He also noted one of the biggest challenges.
"Our percentage of people between the ages of 12 and 18 who have been vaccinated is roughly about 25% of that group, and I'll be quite frank, that's just not high enough. It's not going to be high enough to protect us from the Delta variant and slow its circulation, and it's going to be the younger people who are going to be getting infected," Ohl said.