The Delta variant accounts for more than half of the variant cases in the Valley for the month of June. Delta spreads more easily, can cause more severe illness, and is slightly more likely to cause “breakthrough” cases.
As of July 11th, 19,659 San Luis Valley residents have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
A “breakthrough” case is when someone who is fully vaccinated and immunized is exposed to the virus and develops COVID-19 illness. Between 60 and 70 breakthrough cases have occurred in the San Luis Valley during the past 6 months. Nearly all vaccine breakthroughs have been mild cases, but there have been several fatalities among them, mostly of individuals who were vulnerable due to age and/or serious underlying conditions. The Delta variant played a role in at least some of these cases. Vaccines are strongly recommended to protect not only yourself, but those you may come into contact with.
Vaccines continue to be about 90-95% effective against the virus that causes COVID-19, and only slightly less effective against some variants like Delta.
Viruses are notoriously adaptive and can mutate for their survivability. In order to survive, a virus makes small changes in itself, and some of those changes make it spread more easily, or resist treatment, or cause more severe illness. Each time the virus passes from one person to another, it has a potential opportunity to develop a new variant. Our job is to get ahead of the virus and stop it from spreading and mutating into more dangerous variants. We can do that through social distancing, masking, and most effectively through vaccines.
There are currently 57 known active cases of COVID-19 in the San Luis Valley.
- Alamosa County – 20
- Conejos County – 6
- Costilla County – 0
- Mineral County – 0
- Rio Grande County – 25
- Saguache County – 6
