Anthony Fauci: Delta variant is greatest threat to the US’ Covid fight
The Delta variant of the coronavirus first found in India is the greatest threat to the United States' effort to eradicate Covid-19 within its borders, said US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci during a Tuesday press call.
"The transmissibility is unquestionably greater" in the Delta variant, Dr Fauci said, adding "it is associated with an increased disease severity".
The Delta variant is becoming the globally dominant version of the disease, World Health Organisation chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said last Friday.
Dr Fauci said that the vaccines authorised in the US, including the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, are effective against the new variant of Covid-19.
"We have the tools, so let us use them and crush the outbreak," Dr Fauci said.
The US is falling short of its goal of vaccinating 70 per cent of adults by July 4 and will likely need a few additional weeks to hit that target, White House Covid-19 senior adviser Jeffrey Zients said during the press call.
Mr Zients added that he expects 70 per cent of adults over the age of 27 will have had at least one shot by July 4.
More than 150 million people in the US, or more than 45 per cent of the population, have been fully vaccinated, according to federal data last updated on Monday.
The US is making a push to inoculate more younger adults amid concerns that demand for jabs is slowing as the spread of the Delta variant picks up speed.
This group has been particularly hard to persuade.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday that they have the lowest coverage, with just 38.3 per cent of those aged 18 to 29 vaccinated compared with 80 per cent of those older than 65.
"The reality is many younger Americans have felt like Covid-19 is not something that impacts them, and they have been less eager to get the shot," Mr Zients said.
The Delta strain now makes up 20.6 per cent of new infections in America, more than double the 9.6 per cent level in early June, according to the CDC on Tuesday. The US is registering around 10,000 new daily cases a day - just three for every 100,000 people, with the daily death rate around 270, or 0.1 for every 100,000. - REUTERS, THE STRAITS TIMES
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