Delta variant may double risk of hospitalization for the unvaccinated, study finds

Los Angeles — A new study finds troubling news concerning the Delta variant and those unvaccinated against the coronavirus. This comes as new COVID infections in the U.S. average more than 150,000 per day, a 21% increase in the last 14 days.

COVID patients are overwhelming hospitals from coast to coast, driving a summer surge. The Delta variant — which is more contagious than the original "Alpha variant" that spread globally — more than doubles the risk of hospitalization for the unvaccinated, according to a U.K. study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Researchers studied more than 40,000 COVID cases between March and May – when the Delta variant took off in Britain — to compare the rates of hospitalization. The findings closely resembled preliminary data from a Scottish study that indicated the Delta variant caused more hospitalizations.