“The delta variant has upended everything. It is very important for people to recalibrate their risk,” said Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University. “Some people may decide that nothing has changed for them, and that’s reasonable. But for families with young children in particular who are not yet vaccinated, they should consider using much more caution than before.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in August that vaccine effectiveness is decreased against the delta variant, but vaccinated people still have strong protection. Several factors are causing alarm for parents, including the hyper transmissibility of the variant and increasing numbers of cases in children.