COVID: As Some Holdouts Get Vaccinated, UCSF Expert Says 'Miracle' Needed To Slow Delta Variant

UNION CITY (KPIX 5) -- Amid rising COVID-19 case numbers, one hope in recent days has been that Delta variant concerns will drive more people to get vaccinated. While that might be happening, experts say it is almost certainly not happening enough.

"It took me a while to decide if I wanted to get vaccinated," says Lavinia Sanders. "So I just did it because of the new variant that's out now."

Delta on her mind, Sanders walked into her neighborhood pharmacy and got a shot Friday. Sanders is not alone.

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"Today, the White House tweeted out that there has been a 14% uptick in vaccinations just over this last week," explains UCSF Infectious Disease Expert Dr. Monica Gandhi. "Why? Because exactly the story that you just said. There is a lot on the Delta variant."

In Alameda County, vaccinations peaked back in April and flattened out by mid-June. There are no numbers to suggest any kind of surge in shots here, at least not yet.

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Gandhi told KPIX 5 if Delta doesn't drive more shots, talk of vaccine requirements for employment might. "It's going more towards the question of same you can't come back to work unless you're vaccinated," she explained.

But cases are surging, and that is speeding up the clock, so fast that it raises the question: is there any way to change the vaccination metric enough, and fast enough, that Delta slows down?

"That's a sobering question," Gandhi said. "This Delta variant, why we are all putting in more restrictions, people masking inside, we are hoping that people get vaccinated. But I'm not sure we can slow Delta, specifically, unless there's a miracle and people just decide to get vaccinated."