'COVID-19 becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated': US official as Delta variant wreaks havoc

"Clearly, the Delta variant is dominant in the world," top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said.

File Photo (Reuters)

New Delhi: As the Delta variant continues to wreak havoc across the world, the United States official on Friday (July 16, 2021) said that the COVID-19 is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated. 

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said that they have reported more than 33,000 new cases of coronavirus. 

"Our seven-day average is about 26,300 cases per day, and this represents an increase of nearly 70 per cent from the prior seven-day average," she stated during a White House press briefing on the COVID-19 situation.

Walensky added that the seven-day average of hospital admissions is about 2,790 per day — an increase of about 36 per cent from the previous seven-day period.  

"After weeks of declines, seven-day average daily deaths have increased by 26 per cent to 211 per day," the CDC Director stated.

She further said, "There is a clear message that is coming through: This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated.  We are seeing outbreaks of cases in parts of the country that have low vaccination coverage because unvaccinated people are at risk and communities that are fully vaccinated are generally faring well."

Walensky informed that in the last week, 10 per cent of counties have moved into 'high transmission risk' and 7 per cent of counties have moved into 'substantial risk'

"Those counties most frequently correspond to counties with low vaccination rates," she added.

"The good news is that if you are fully vaccinated, you are protected against severe COVID, hospitalization, and death, and are even protected against the known variants — including the Delta variant — circulating in the country," the CDC Director stated.

During the same presser, Anthony Fauci, Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, highlighted that 'Clearly, the Delta variant is dominant in the world'.

"They're at about 100 countries that have now have the Delta variant that is detected in them in June of — since June in 2020," Fauci said.

This is to be noted that the Delta variant, first detected in India, is significantly more contagious than the original variant of COVID-19.