The Delta Variant and Beyond: Learning to Live With Covid

Cases are dramatically up again, but simple protective measures can still control the disease if we deploy them flexibly

By Tom Frieden. Excerpts:

"I believe the good news far outweighs the bad. Our vaccines are stunningly effective and remarkably safe. The mRNA vaccines, in particular, are preventing severe illness and death, even from Delta."

"in places with high vaccination rates, including much of the U.S., the worst is over: There will be many breakthrough infections, but 80% of the most vulnerable Americans are fully vaccinated, which means that the death rate will be much lower than it once was. Although Covid will remain a deadly threat for the unvaccinated, for the vaccinated—unless more dangerous variants emerge—Delta will have a risk of death roughly similar to that of flu."

"Covid is likely here to stay. It will almost certainly become endemic, continuing to spread and to flare up at different times and places for many years."