Federal health officials continue to urge more Americans to get vaccinated, as the delta variant is responsible for a higher proportion of new cases in the United States.
“You need to get vaccinated to protect yourself from Covid-19, delta variant and any other alternative that comes your way,” Jeffrey Zentes, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said Thursday.
The variant was first discovered by scientists in India, and is now distributed in more than 80 countries and accounts for more than 10% of new cases in the United States. That’s a 6% increase last week.
The American Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy on Thursday after explaining that the delta variable is real. It could be more dangerous than previous variants.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently identified the delta variant as a variant of concern “based on mounting evidence that the delta variant spreads more easily and causes more severe conditions compared to other variants, including B.1.1.7 (alpha).”
The number of new cases and deaths has dropped dramatically in the United States, thanks to generally successful vaccination campaigns in many states. Some parts of the country are still seeing an increase in cases and hospitalizations.
“We see that communities with the highest vaccination coverage have new cases and fewer hospital admissions, and communities with the lowest vaccination coverage have new cases and higher hospital admissions,” Zenz said.
The UK recently saw the delta variant become the dominant species there, overtaking the original alpha variant, which was first discovered in the country last fall. Delta variant now accounts for more than 60% of new cases in the UK
Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor, said last week that he said “we can’t let this happen in the United States” while urging more people, especially young people, to get vaccinated.
