Dr. Natasha Kathuria said the surge of hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Austin is surprising. She said an overwhelming number of patients are unvaccinated. Also, she said instead of elderly patients, the bulk are between 20 and 50 years old.

“The fact that we would be facing another surge when we have vaccines so readily available for anyone 12 and older is really quite astonishing and a little disheartening, to be honest,” Kathuria said.

Kathuria said the delta variant is “more transmissible and infectious among the young than it was before.”