El Paso doctor believes Delta variant causing spike in COVID-19 cases
EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — An El Paso doctor said he believes the Delta variant is the cause of the spike in COVID-19 cases in El Paso.
Dr. Edward Michaelson with Texas Tech University Health and Sciences Center in El Paso described why he believes the Delta variant is already in the city.
COVID-19 cases in El Paso have increased in recent days.
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Michaelson said he believes local leaders haven't confirmed that the Delta variant is present in El Paso because he says El Paso doesn't have the ability to detect the variant.
“If you look at our positivity rate, it has gone up from half a percent to 5.6 percent and the symptoms are a little different," Michaelson said.
As of July 14, 33 new COVID-19 cases were reported and one new death. There are currently 467 active cases with 65 of those hospitalized.
"Delta in younger people causes more upper respiratory symptoms, cold, runny nose, much more so than the lung complication which causes people to end up in the hospital. All these things point to the likelihood that the Delta variant is here," he said.
“We have done a great job getting folks here vaccinated but the job isn’t complete,” he said.
Michaelson said there are several people who got the first dose of the vaccine but never went back to get the second dose.
They need to get both doses to be protected,” he said. "It’s never too late to get the second dose if you missed it.
Michaelson said it’s still too early to determine if a third Pfizer shot will be needed.
“For some individuals, a third dose may be needed, but only for those people who wouldn’t have the normal response to the two doses of the vaccine," he said.
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