COVID-19: Over 99% of recent deaths in US are of unvaccinated people, claims Dr Anthony Fauci

Dr Fauci, who has taken both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, said he would consider wearing a mask in parts of the country with low levels of vaccination and rising coronavirus caseloads.

File Photo (Reuters)

New Delhi: America's top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci on Sunday (July 4, 2021) claimed that over 99% of recent COVID-19 deaths in the United States are of unvaccinated people.

Dr Fauci, in an interview with an American TV network, said that 99.2% of coronavirus-related fatalities in the month of June occurred among people who were not vaccinated.

"It's really sad and tragic that most of all of these are avoidable and preventable," he expressed.

Dr Fauci, who is also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has taken both doses but said he would consider wearing a mask in parts of the country with low levels of vaccination and rising coronavirus caseloads. 

During the White House press briefing by the COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials on July 1, Dr Fauci had said that the best way to protect yourself against the virus and its variants is to be 'fully vaccinated'.

In the same media briefing, Dr Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control, stated that the Delta variant of COVID-19, first found in India, is predicted to be the 'second most prevalent variant' in the United States.

She said, "An estimated 25% of all reported SARS-CoV-2 sequences nationwide are the Delta variant and in some regions of the country, nearly one in two sequences is the Delta variant." 

So far, more than 180 million Americans, including 67 per cent of adults — have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. 

This is to be noted that the United States is the worst COVID-19-hit country in the world with over 3.3 crore infections and 6 lakh deaths.