Coronavirus vaccine news, updates and information for 7-09-2021

<p>This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for July 9th, 2021.</p><p><br></p><p>Scientists believe they’re starting to understand the delta variant more. They seem to mostly agree it is the most contagious version, spreading about 225% faster than the original. And a new study says delta grows faster inside our respiratory tracts and to much higher levels. On average, people infected with the delta variant had about 1,000x more copies of the virus in their respiratory tracts than those infected with the original strain. Also, when someone catches the delta variant, they become infectious sooner, taking about four days to reach detectable levels compared to six days for the original.</p><p><br></p><p>Pfizer is about to seek U.S. authorization for a third dose of its vaccine, saying another shot within 12 months could dramatically boost immunity and maybe help ward off the delta variant.</p><p><br></p><p>This is the kind of thing that makes it very hard to track accurate coronavirus data. Connecticut health officials say they will no longer provide daily updates on the number of people who have died in that state from COVID-19-related causes. Those reports will now only come once a week.</p><p><br></p><p>Los Angeles County’s public health director tells NPR vaccination rates are lower in the black community and as a result, that community is experiencing a rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. This in a time period when cases and hospitalizations went down for Latino, white and Asian residents.</p><p><br></p><p>Don’t bother heading to Japan for the Olympics. As anticipated, spectators will not be allowed in the host city of Tokyo. Japan has declared a state of emergency in the capital that will run throughout the Games, which run until Aug. 8. The Games had been postponed last year due to the pandemic.</p><p><br></p><p>In the United States cases were up 39%, deaths are down 38%, and hospitalizations are up 1% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since July