WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — COVID-19 cases are once again on the rise. Newswatch 16 spoke with a medical professional at UPMC Williamsport about the Delta variant which is popping up all around the nation.
"The Delta variant is 60% more transmissible than the British variant which in technicality comes up to almost 70% more easily transmissible in the regular COVID virus," said Dr. Rutul Dalal.
Recent CDC studies show that folks who have been vaccinated can still spread the Delta variant at a similar rate as those who are not vaccinated.
However, Dr. Dalal still encourages folks to get the vaccine because it can potentially keep you out of the ICU.
"Even though the protection level goes down with the Delta variant of the vaccine, it still definitely protects you from moderate to severe disease," said Dr. Dalal.
Most of the new cases in the country are coming from southern states but Dr. Dalal says we could see more transmission of the virus in the commonwealth if we aren't careful.
"The longer the virus stays in the community, the variant is going to keep progressing. Not just Delta, but it could be Lambda which is coming up from Latin America. There could be many more variants coming in so I would suggest people get vaccinated to not only protect themselves but also stamp out these variants as quickly as possible from these communities," said Dr. Dalal.
Earlier this week the CDC started encouraging masking in areas of high transmission; Pennsylvania is not considered a high transmission state at the moment.
"I think this is an added layer of security being added on top of the vaccine. I know it is frustrating but again typically pandemics don't go away in a hurry. They stay there for around three and a half to four years," said Dr. Dalal.
Those who are looking to get the vaccine can schedule one through UPMC here.