MIAMI VALLEY — As a particularly contagious Covid strain spreads in Ohio, a Miami Valley doctor is urging people to get vaccinated.
State health leaders are warning, the delta variant could become the dominant strain in the state.
“Unvaccinated people, you’re wide open for an infection,” Dr. Andre Harris, the chief medical officer for Atrium Medical Center said.
He explained, the delta variant is more contagious than the original Covid strain.
“This particular variant, instead of one person spreading it to two people, we’re seeing that one person can spread it to three or four people,” Dr. Harris said.
He said the Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines offer protection from the strain. His concern is for people who are unvaccinated.
“It’s kind of unnecessary for us to be in a place where you end up in the hospital, potentially with something that could kill you or could cause some long term problems, just because you didn’t get vaccinated,” Dr. Harris said.
He said, getting the vaccine even after infection can provide additional protection.
“You can rely on prior infection, or you can do something that we’ve tested to show that we have a very high rate of not ending up in the hospital, not ending up dead,” Dr. Harris said.