Page 8 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JULY 23, 2021 Delta variant targeting those without COVID vaccine W By Christopher Roberson ith the recent rise of the COVID-19 Delta variant, doctors at area hospitals suggest that this strain of the virus can attack anyone who has not been vaccinated – and it will do so with ease. Delta is a staggering 225 percent more contagious than the original COVID-19 virus and the other variants that have surfaced. “It is almost exclusively infecting unvaccinated individuals,” said Dr. Lou Ann Bruno-Murtha, division chief of infectious diseases at Cambridge Health Alliance. “This variant has demonstrated improved fitness and is expected to increase.” Although there have been instances of Delta breaking through the vaccine, Bruno-Murtha said, the probability of a vaccinated person becoming infected remains quite low. “Fully vaccinated individuals are very well protected against the Delta variant,” she said. “Only 0.1 percent of breakthrough infections in Massachusetts are attributed to Delta and by and large, have been mild infections not requiring hospitalization.” To date, 63 percent of Massachusetts residents are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Bruno-Murtha said Delta is most likely to flourish among groups of unvaccinated individuals. “Local clusters will emerge, particularly where unvaccinated individuals gather now that masking and physical distancing in public areas is no longer required,” she said. “Masking and other mitiLaw Offices of Terrence W. Kennedy 512 Broadway, Everett • Criminal Defense • Personal Injury • Medical Malpractice Tel: (617) 387-9809 Cell: (617) 308-8178 twkennedylaw@gmail.com gation strategies may need to be implemented locally, in response to increases in community transmission rates.” Looking ahead to the 20212022 school year, she strongly recommended that masks continue to be worn and that parents and school staff be fully vaccinated as well. Unlike last fall, Bruno-Murtha said remote learning is not the answer this year. “Our children will do better by returning to the classroom,” she said. “Although some cases will continue to occur in the foreseeable future, testing and contact tracing should limit clusters and enable public health and school officials to react quickly.” Dr. Scott Dryden-Peterson, an attending physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said Delta is now responsible for the majority of the state’s COVID-19 infections. Although studies remain ongoing, he said, the Delta strain appears to be more severe. “If community rates of COVID-19 continue to increase, either from Delta or another variant, increasing use of masks and distancing would be a good idea,” he said. “I advise my older patients and those with conditions that place them at risk to continue to wear masks in public indoor spaces, even after vaccination.” Dryden-Peterson said getting vaccinated will continue to be crucial, particularly since the upcoming school year is expected to be in-person. “To make schools as safe as possible, we should encourage vaccination of adults and older children to protect children who cannot yet be vaccinated,” he said. Therefore, until a pediatric GYMNAST | FROM PAGE 7 placed third all-around, first on vault and balance beam, fourth on floor exercise and eighth on uneven bars. Later in July she competed at the 2011 U.S. Classic in Chicago, Illinois, placing 20th all-around and fifth on the balance beam and the floor exercise. She was ready for the big time. Her prior attainment allowed her to compete in the 2012 American Classic in Huntsville, Alabama. Biles placed first all-around and on vault, tied for second on floor exercise, placed third on balance beam and fourth on uneven bars. That was good enough to qualify for the U.S. National Championships in St. Louis, Missouri, where she finished third all-around. On her performance, Simone was named to the U.S. Junior National team at 15 years old. She was included in the 2013 America Cup as a replacement for a player selected earlier, but sustained injuries. She finished as second when she fell off the beam after leading for two rotations. In this year she competed as part of the U.S National team in Jesolo, Italy, and Chemnitz, Germany, where she won many of the individual events and helped the US team to Gold Medals. Next that year was the USA Gymnastics National Championships, and her winning routines earned her the crown of allaround champion. Because of the outstanding performance, she was named to the Senior National Team and competed in the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics in Antwerp, Belgium, where she qualified for the allaround and won the competition with a score of 60.216. An injury kept her out of the early competitions in the US in 2014, but she won the U.S. Classic in Chicago. Later that season she won the national championship again. The 2015 season was a very busy one for Biles: She started off by winning the AT&T American Cup, won the City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy and received her third all-around title in the US National Championships. She was selected to compete for the US team in the world championships in Glasgow, Scotland, where she helped her team win their third consecutive world championship. Simone won the AllAround title at the 2016 Pacific Rim Championships, where she performed a new, more difficult vault and a new floor routine. Biles won the 2016 U.S. National Championship AllAround title by 3.9 points over Aly Raisman. In July she was named to the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. She was originally dropped from the events for doping, but she was reinstated when she applied for a Therapeutic Use Exemption after announcing she had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. On August 9, 2016, she won her first Olympic Gold Medal in the gymnastics team event. She took the Gold Medal in the individual all-around and the vault. Simone won the Bronze Medal in the balance beam, then another Gold in the floor exercise. Biles did not compete in 2017, using the time to cowrite an autobiography with journalist Michelle Burford, “Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance.” Simone returned to action in 2018 and won the US Classic in July. In August she placed first in every event in the 2018 National Championships. In October at the 2018 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, she went to an emergency room the night before qualification with stomach pains that were actually kidney stones. It was not appendicitis and she checked herself out of the hospital. The next day she qualified to the all-around, vault, balance beam and floor exercise finals in first place and second in the uneven bars. Biles won a Gold Medal in the all-around finals, GYMNAST | SEE PAGE 12 vaccine becomes readily available for children under the age of 12, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that children, ages two and older, wear masks.
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