As the Delta variant of the COVID virus continues on its way to becoming the dominant strain in the US, health officials' concerns continue to grow.

"What seems to be standing out about this one, especially in people who are unvaccinated, it seems to have a higher degree of transmissibility," says Dr. Thomas Macabobby, Mercy Health Physicians Youngstown Regional Medical Director for Primary Care.  "It gets people sicker, faster than perhaps the other variants."

While Dr. Macabobby says it's hard to say whether the Delta variant is more deadly, it is causing more hospitalizations.

"We have to assume it's here (in The Valley). If you look at the reports from the CDC, it's present in something like 49 states and already gone from accounting for less than a fraction of a percent of cases in Spring to now 20 percent and growing of the current case load."


Dr. Macabobby blames that on restrictions in Ohio and Pennsylvania being lifted.
Experts like him say the only way to reverse that trend is to get the shot.
But many are still hesitant.
Doctors say folks who haven't been vaccinated should keep the FDA's warning about an extremely rare heart condition in perspective.
 
"I think it's important to remember that cases of inflammation of the heart or the lining of the heart can also be found with the COVID virus itself," says Dr. Macabobby. "You run a much greater risk of getting inflammation of or around the heart from having COVID than you do from the vaccine."