“My law school classmate Kevin Roche went on to become general counsel of UnitedHealth and then chief executive officer of its health information/data technology division Ingenix. As any regular reader of his Healthy Skeptic site can quickly surmise, he has mastered the research on Covid-19 and related issues. I called Kevin this morning to ask if he would restate his findings regarding the Delta variant and vaccine effectiveness in the form of bullet or numbered points. He has responded to my request in the post ‘What more can I say.’ [Following is an excerpt from his post:] ‘Notwithstanding my exasperation with the failure of common sense and skepticism to prevail, I will try one more time to simply list why we shouldn’t get all hysterical again. Let’s start with Delta. Contrary to the misinformation being spread by many, including the so-called experts, the research to date shows: It has a lower hospitalization and death rate. It is perhaps somewhat more transmissible. It does not result in substantially higher viral loads. Vaccines are only marginally less effective against Delta infections. It does not have a worse impact on children. Now let us move on to vaccine effectiveness, where we find that: People who are vaccinated can get infected, but do so at lower rates than the unvaxed. People who are vaccinated and get infected have lower viral loads than the unvaxed who become infected. People who are vaccinated and get infected are less likely to be infectious and transmit. People who are vaccinated have much lower rates of hospitalization and death than do those who are unvaccinated and get infected. The research is actually mixed as to whether vaccination or prior infection provides a stronger adaptive immune response.’”
Scott Johnson, “Delta Variant,” Powerlineblog.com, July 28, 2021