HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Dr. Hoa Nguyen is urging residents to do two things: get vaccinated and keep wearing your mask.
He said these are particularly important in light of the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, which causes the respiratory illness Covid-19, and the ease in restrictions for quarantine and local capacity.
“We have to worry about the delta variant,” said Nguyen who is the chairman of the governor’s Physicians Advisory Group. Nguyen, who as of Saturday was stateside, said states like California are seeing an increase in new Covid-19 cases daily, and many of them are caused by the delta variant.
Guam’s Department of Public Health and Social Services has reported at least one case of the variant here in Guam.
The WHO has called delta the most “transmissible variant of the variants identified so far.” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said the lack of vaccines in poor countries was exacerbating the delta variant’s transmission.
Guam is actively courting tourists from foreign countries to enjoy what’s being billed as a “vaccination vacation,” with special packages and incentives as a way to help jump start the island’s tourism economy.
Nguyen said with the possibility of an influx of unvaccinated travelers, it’s important that the government balance the need to quarantine, with the continued advocacy to local residents to get vaccinated and continue wearing their masks.
The governor has said she’s considering lifting the mask requirement come July 21 if at least 80% of the island’s adult population is vaccinated. As of Friday, there were more than 96,000 Guamanians who were fully vaccinated. That number includes teens and adolescents ages 12 to 17, however.
Nguyen said he’s had some discussions with others on the advisory group and there may be a recommendation to the governor to maintain the mask requirement because of the possible influx of non-vaccinated people as well as the concern regarding the delta variant.
“Many people who are getting the delta variant aren’t vaccinated,” he said, noting that the arsenal of vaccines provided in Guam, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, provide some level of protection against this and other variants.
“Of course they don’t make you bulletproof,” he added. “The key is the symptoms won’t be is severe and you won’t end up in the hospital – it decreases the severity of the infection. You’re not bulletproof but you also will be more protected than if you weren’t vaccinated at all.”
Residents are to be seated and observed after receiving their vaccination shots during the vaccination clinic at the Micronesia Mall in Dededo, Guam on Saturday afternoon.
