The Delta Variant Affects All Age Groups
The Claim
As the COVID-19 Delta variant moves through the population, social media users have been questioning its existence and seriousness. Some users have been claiming that officials only say that that the Delta variant impacts teenagers because it's “convenient.”
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Emerging story
As the COVID-19 Delta variant moves through the population, social media users have been questioning its existence and seriousness. Some users have been implying that officials are lying when they say that the Delta variant impacts teenagers.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found these statements to be misleading: Users spreading the claims that officials say that the Delta variant only impacts 12 to 20-year-olds because it’s “convenient” are misinterpreting the provided information.
First identified in late 2020, the Delta variant started in India and has traveled worldwide. The United Kingdom Public Health Department released a study noting that the Delta variant is the leading COVID-19 variant in the UK and that the most common environment for both Alpha and Delta variant exposures is in classrooms and other educational settings, thus impacting a younger population.
The study breaks down demographics of positive cases in the UK, and people 20-29 have the highest number of cases with the 10-19 age group falling close behind.
Yale Medicine notes that the study shows people under 50 are affected at a higher rate, but they also remark that unvaccinated people face the most risk. The Association of American Medical Colleges acknowledges that low vaccination rates in the United States, along with variants, caused cases among children to remain constant and even rise in some areas.
Low vaccination rates, combined with vaccines only recently being made available in the U.S. for children as young as 12, created an unvaccinated population of children affected by the more contagious Delta variant. Older people have higher rates of vaccination, and thus are not being affected as often. Regardless of age group, experts agree that vaccinated individuals have a high level of protection from the Delta variant.
