The blue-and-white CDC sign in front of the agency's Atlanta headquarters at sunset
The headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tami Chappell/Reuters
  • An internal CDC document warned that the Delta coronavirus variant can transmit as easily as chickenpox.
  • The leaked document said fully vaccinated people may spread the virus as easily as the unvaccinated.
  • But it said vaccines protect people from severe disease and death by up to 10 times.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

The Delta coronavirus variant appears to be as contagious as chickenpox, a leaked internal document from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned.

The document, first obtained by The Washington Post, also warned that the variant is more transmissible than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, the seasonal flu, and smallpox.

The document also said there is early evidence that fully vaccinated people could spread the virus as easily as unvaccinated people.

But it said that vaccines protect people from severe disease and death caused by the Delta variant by up to 10 times.

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