[StylinRed]

Originally Posted by Traum

I'd say the crucial takeaway out of this news continues to be -- it is extremely important to get ourselves fully vaccinated. It is the delta / Indian variant picking up steam down there in the US, so I wouldn't say it is new. Just 2 days ago, an English study has shown that both the Pfizer and the AstraZeneca vaccines are highly effective at preventing hospitalization (ie. severe COVID) due to the delta / Indian variant:

https://www.citynews1130.com/2021/06...nt-in-britain/

The 2 dose "scores" against hospitalization are:

- Pfizer 96%
- AstraZeneca - 92%

Even the 1 dose "score" is really quite good, esp for Pfizer:

- Pfizer 94%
- AstraZeneca - 71%

It is quite disappointing to see the US vaccination rate increasing more slowly now -- Google says it is only sitting at 44% now, and there is a definite slow down in vaccinations since mid April. At least Washington's vaccination rate is higher than the US national average (at almost 60% right now), but I'd obviously want to see it going much higher before I'd feel comfortable travelling down to WA again.

Now I'm wondering if we really need a 2nd dose? Seems like the first does it all, for the mrna ones anyway