OpEd: What You Can Do to Help Stop the Spread of the Delta Variant

I am pretty sure we all agree that we want life to get back to normal already. So, it pains me to tell you that COVID-19 cases in our community of Butte and our surrounding areas are rising. Subsequently, COVID hospitalizations are increasing and the healthcare community anticipates this trend to continue. The Delta variant is now becoming the dominant strain in Montana.

This is bad news on many levels. For one, this variant is more contagious. People who have been infected with the Delta variant, even those who have no symptoms, carry more than 1,000 times the viral load in their noses than people with earlier strains. That means if you are infected, you spread more virus out into the world. Even if you have been fully vaccinated, you can spread this new Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus. Most of the spread of the Delta variant occurs in the first 3-4 days after a person is exposed, long before symptoms occur. Delta also seems to be affecting younger people, even kids and making them very sick. This is especially concerning since children under the age of 12 aren’t yet eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The Delta variant has also been found to cause reinfection in those people who previously had a prior strain of COVID-19.

For more than a year and a half now, our frontline healthcare workers have been working tirelessly to help the members of our community heal. Unlike the situation we were in a year ago, there are now more avenues for our community members to help stop this increase in cases and that begins with getting vaccinated.

As you may know, there are plenty of options for those who are looking to get vaccinated in our community. Ranging from walking into one of our community pharmacies or stopping by a Butte-Silver Bow Health Department pop-up vaccination clinic. We encourage all eligible members of the community to get vaccinated. In those instances where a person who has been fully vaccinated experiences a breakthrough, becomes ill with COVID-19, the data shows they have less severe symptoms and most often do not require hospitalization. Of our COVID-positive patients in recent months, the overwhelming majority of them were unvaccinated. If you are unsure where to get a vaccine you can find locations at vaxbutte.com.

As is often the case with vaccines, some people have experienced minor side effects after receiving the COVID-19 vaccination, such as a mild fever or soreness at the injection site. Fortunately, severe reactions are infrequent. If you have any questions or concerns please speak to your primary care provider.

Additionally, we do not yet know if booster vaccines will eventually be recommended. For now, the evidence shows us that vaccines are still providing protection in those more than a year out from receiving their vaccines. The very best protection we have to prevent severe illness and hospitalization is a COVID-19 vaccine.

This leads me to another way you can help the community… wear a mask in public. For the last couple of months, we have enjoyed the opportunity to not wear a mask when out in the community, but masking will go a long way in reducing the spread of the new variant. Our community led the way for the state in 2020 with our masking enthusiasm, and we need that passion again if we are to get this increase of cases under control. Doctors, especially surgeons, have been wearing masks since the 1920s to prevent spreading their germs to their patients. We know masks work best to keep others safe from our germs. Let’s protect each other and our children by masking up!

We must continue to be diligent in our efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community. Our ask of our associates, patients, and community members remains the same: Please do your part to help slow the spread of COVID-19 by getting vaccinated and wearing a mask in public again.