Fast Company – “Delta is wreaking havoc among communities where vaccination rates are low. This map shows you how your county ranks. Earlier this month, the delta variant of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that caused COVID-19, became dominant in the United States with just over 50% of all new Covid-19 cases being caused by it. Now the latest data shows that a full 83% of new Covid cases are from the delta variant, reports NBC News. This is cause for concern as the delta variant is much more transmissible than previous variants. More transmissibility means more chances for mutations, which could potentially become vaccine-resistant. The good news is, those who are fully vaccinated are relatively well protected from delta. They may still catch delta, but most will experience fewer symptoms with less severity. The bad news? Delta is wreaking havoc among communities where vaccination rates are low. If you’re wondering which communities those are, the CDC has released a new tool that maps vaccination rates together with what it calls the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). The SVI uses data on housing, poverty, and transportation to assess at-risk communities vulnerable to disease outbreaks…”

• See also New Health Equity Tool Tracks How the Pandemic is Affecting Communities
• See also CNN: American Academy of Pediatrics recommends masks in schools for everyone over 2, regardless of vaccinations. “The American Academy of Pediatrics released new Covid-19 guidance for schools on Monday that supports in-person learning and recommends universal masking in school of everyone over the age of 2, regardless of vaccination status — a stricter position than that taken this month by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
• See also The New York Times: How to Reach the Unvaccinated. “On the one hand, there is clearly a hard core of vaccine resistance, based around tribal right-wing identity, that’s being nourished by both online conspiracy theories and the bad arguments and arguers that some Fox News hosts and right-wing personalities have elevated. On the other hand, the ranks of the unvaccinated are much larger than the audience for any vaccine-skeptical information source and far more varied than the stereotype of Trump voters drinking up QAnon-style conspiracies.”