The White House’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said on Tuesday that the highly contagious delta variant is the “biggest threat” to the country’s elimination of Covid-19.
Fauci said at a White House press conference on the pandemic that Delta, which was originally discovered in India, now accounts for about 20% of all new cases in the United States, up from 10% two weeks ago. He said that delta seems to “follow the same pattern” and alpha is the first variant found in the UK, with infections occurring in the US approximately every two weeks. “Similar to the situation in the UK, the Delta variant is currently our biggest threat to the elimination of Covid-19 in the United States,” he said. Before Fauci’s comments, Dr. Rochelle Valensky, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urged Americans to be vaccinated against the new coronavirus on Friday, saying that she expects Delta to become the top variant of the US coronavirus.
Studies have shown that its transmission rate is about 60% higher than that of the United States. The alphavirus is more infectious than the original strain that appeared in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019. “Although the high infectivity of this delta strain is worrying, our vaccine is effective,” Varensky told ABC’s “Good Morning America.” He added that if he is vaccinated, “he will be protected from this delta variant.” The UK recently discovered that the delta variant became the main strain there, and it performed better than the alpha first discovered in the country last fall.
Delta variants now account for more than 60% of new cases in the UK. Health officials said that there are reports that delta variants can also cause more severe symptoms, but more research is needed to confirm these conclusions. Despite this, there are still signs that the delta strain may cause different symptoms from other variants. Fassi said on Tuesday that the United States has the “tools” to defeat the variant, urging more Americans to fully vaccinate the Covid and “smash the new shoots.” He said earlier on Tuesday that he may not be able to achieve President Joe Biden’s goal of vaccinating 70% or more of American adults by July 4.”
In this case, the effectiveness of the vaccine, two weeks after the second Pfizer-BioNTech dose, is 88% effective for delta and 93% effective for alpha for symptomatic diseases,” Fauci quoted One study said. The World Health Organization said on Friday that deltas are becoming the main mutation of the disease on a global scale. On Monday, WHO officials warned that this variant is by far the fastest and best-shaped strain of the coronavirus and that it will “wipe out” the most vulnerable people, especially in places where the Covid-19 vaccination rate is low.
WHO Executive Director Dr. Mike Ryan said: “Because it spreads from person to person more effectively, and eventually vulnerable individuals who are seriously ill, have to be hospitalized and may die, become more deadly.” The emergency health plan said at a press conference. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of Covid technology at WHO, said on Monday that Delta Air Lines has now spread to 92 countries. She said: “Unfortunately, we still haven’t vaccinated in the right place to protect people’s lives.” The WHO has been urging rich countries, including the United States, to donate doses. The Biden administration detailed earlier Monday where it will deliver 55 million doses of vaccines, most of which will be distributed through the WHO-supported immunization program Covax. “These vaccines are very effective against serious illness and death. This is what they mean and what they should be used for,” Van Kerkhove said. “This is what Covax, WHO, and all our partners have been advocating that these vaccines can be used for the most dangerous populations. “