Dr Fauci said the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus that was first found in India is the greatest threat to the United States’ effort to eradicate COVID-19 in its borders.
US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci, in a press call on Tuesday, said the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus that was first found in India is the greatest threat to the United States’ effort to eradicate COVID-19 in its borders.
Dr Fauci said that “the transmissibility is unquestionably greater” in the Delta variant than the original variant of COVID-19, adding that “it is associated with an increased disease severity.”
The World Health Organization’s chief scientist on Friday said the Delta variant is becoming the globally dominant version of the disease.
Dr Fauci stressed that the vaccines authorized in the United States, including the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, are effective against the new variant of COVID-19.
“We have the tools, so let’s use them and crush the outbreak,” he said.
White House COVID-19 senior adviser Jeffrey Zients, during a press conference, said the United States is falling short of its goal of vaccinating 70% of adults by July 4 and will likely need a few additional weeks to hit that target.
Zients added that he expects 70% of adults over 27 years old will have had at least one shot by July 4.
According to federal data last updated on Monday, more than 150 million people in the United States, or more than 45% of the population, have been fully vaccinated.
The Delta variant of the Coronavirus propelled the massive second wave of infections in India almost bringing the health system to the brink of collapse and killing hundreds of thousands.
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