Delta has changed everything. Spread of the ultra- contagious delta variant of the coronavirus is causing a geometric increase in cases. On Friday, Hawaii was stunned by news that 622 new infections had been logged for that day. Although that figure folded in earlier cases that were missed during a glitch in the counting system, the three-day average topped 300, enough to cause widespread dismay.

Worse yet, an estimated quarter of the new cases are infections of children; those under 12 have no vaccine option currently. That shameful lapse is driving calls for a serious crackdown, using the most potent tool we now have.

Vaccinations — with public employees leading the way.

President Joe Biden last week set the tone by announcing plans to require all federal workers either to get the COVID-19 vaccine or to undergo testing for the virus on a regular basis.

State and county governments should follow suit with an aggressive push for vaccinations, in order to provide safe workplaces and sites for agency services to the public.

Hawaii passed a goalpost last week, finally tallying 60% of its entire population as fully vaccinated, well on its way to the 70% goal set by Gov. David Ige this spring. However, it’s increasingly clear that this benchmark no longer seems adequate assurance of protection from COVID-19, meaning that the vaccination campaign has a long way to go.

Adding to the worries: Although the risk of infection for fully vaccinated people is lower, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week related findings that if they are infected, they can transmit the virus just as the unvaccinated do.

Although the risk of their infection is certainly lower once vaccinated, that news about transmission is alarming. Vaccinated people earlier had been advised by the CDC that they bore much less risk. Accordingly, many let down their guard, and now could be adding to the spread of the delta strain.

The agency also warned that the variant is as contagious as chicken pox and may make people sicker than earlier viral strains. The best way to counter this disturbing trend is to lower the level of virus in the environment altogether, by getting more shots into arms now.

And there’s intense urgency to get this done. Delta unpredictably arose as a mutation, first appearing in India where the official death count rocketed up past 400,000.

The longer this or any form of COVID-19 can continue to rage around the world, the likelier it is that more variants will emerge — mutations that could be even deadlier.

Given all these developments, it’s no surprise that the governor, as well as county mayors and council members, are discussing whether and how to boost employee vaccination rates.

Mayor Rick Blangiardi on Friday stopped just short of issuing any mandate yet — but urged Oahu residents to seek out their shots, noting that “unvaccinated individuals are hit hardest with the disease, are more likely to require hospitalization, and are dying as a result of the virus.”

However, top executives all are rightly watching carefully how mandates are playing out in states such as California and New York, which already have unveiled plans for vaccination requirements.

For example, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced all state workers will need vaccinations or undergo weekly testing. Front-line health-care workers at state-run hospitals will not have the testing alternative, so, barring a medical exemption, will have to get the COVID-19 shot.

Workers in health-care and congregate settings, including state correctional facilities, certainly are of the greatest concern here as well. Arguably, they should be first in line for a program screening employees for immunization and requiring tests for those who lack it.

But limiting pro-vaccination efforts to these groups is insufficient, from a public-health standpoint. All state and local agencies serve, and are financed by, the public. They cannot fulfill their mission if a virus is allowed to ravage the workplace.

Those who are still vaccine-hesitant should be given the option to test regularly instead, but their free-choice decision cannot be allowed to compromise public safety.

There are hopeful signs that the general public has become, over time, more amenable to vaccines, especially once full approval of a COVID-19 shot comes from the Food and Drug Administration, beyond the current emergency-use authorization. In June, Kaiser Family Foundation published a survey finding that of those adopting a “wait-and-see” stance on vaccines, 44% would be more likely to take it after FDA full approval.

Many Hawaii private employers are holding off on adding job requirements until that happens, as well. Unfortunately, government does not have the luxury of waiting.

“The pandemic is not over,” Ige said at a press briefing Friday. And with that reality should come the imperative for government to take a stand, and lead, for public health. If we are to put this pandemic behind us, getting shots in arms is Job One.