Delta Variant Set To Dominate North Dakota As Kids Go Back To School?

If you are like me, you are back to shaking hands, giving hugs and interacting with people in general.  I think most of us in Bismarck Mandan have put away our masks and have moved on.

However, if you watch the national news or even the local tv newscasts, they've been preaching about this Delta Variant of COVID-19 that could send North Dakota into a tailspin.  According to an article in the Grand Forks Herald health officials in the state are worried we could have another surge of COVID-19.

Main reason?  Depending on which outlet you look at, North Dakota has somewhere between 40 to 45 percent of its population fully vaccinated.  Similar states with about the same vaccination rates (Arkansas and Missouri) are in the middle of a surge of COVID-19 cases with the more contagious Delta Variant.  Health officials in North Dakota believe our state could follow in the same footsteps as Arkansas and Missouri.

The Delta Variant has been documented in the state already, but it's believed to be low at this point.  States with more people coming in and out of them like Arkansas and Missouri were impacted first.  The fear is, "our time is coming."

Terrible timing as kids go back to school in just about a month.  Most schools were set to go back to full-time in-school classes with no masks and some sense of normalcy.  Back to sports, activities and a sense of hope for a different school year from the past two.

In the article, western North Dakota in particular is lagging behind the rest of the state in vaccination rates.  Does this change your mind?  Are you ready to give vaccination a shot?

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