Yahoo TV

This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially declared the Delta variant, a coronavirus strain first detected in India, “a variant of concern.” This designation is given to variants shown to be more transmissible than the original strain, that can cause more severe disease and potentially reduce the effectiveness of treatments or vaccines.

Yahoo News Medical Contributor Dr. Kavita Patel, a primary care physician in Washington, D.C., who also serves as a health policy fellow at the Brookings Institution, answered some questions about the Delta variant, which some experts have called “the most troubling variant by far.” (Some answers have been edited for clarity.)