The COVID-19 variants health officials are watching

The coronavirus pathogen has continuously mutated during the pandemic, often becoming more virulent strains. Infectious disease experts maintain that the mutated strains circulating in the United States do not evade protection from vaccines available in the U.S., but they pose a danger to holdouts who have not received their shots.

In fact, hospitals in certain states with low vaccination numbers, such as Missouri, have seen an influx of patients infected with the delta variant, originally discovered in India and is estimated to be 50% to 60% more transmissible than the alpha variant, first discovered in the United Kingdom, which was circulating in the spring.