E-Paper
'Delta variant is no joke': Biden's desperate request as US sees another Covid surge
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that the Delta variant now accounts for 83% of all sequenced Covid-19 cases in the country.
Amid worrying surge in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases driven by the highly contagious Delta variant, US President Joe Biden has again urged his countrymen to get vaccinated. The virus is rapidly spreading in some areas with low vaccination rates, threatening the pandemic response of the United States as the Biden administration sought to out vaccinate the variants of concern.
“Folks the Delta variant is no joke. Please protect yourself and your loved ones – get vaccinated,” the US president tweeted on Saturday.
The United States started an aggressive vaccination drive following the approval of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines. About half of the US population is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19 but vaccine hesitancy has been a major impediment in the Biden administration’s goal to achieve herd immunity through vaccination.
Over the past week, the daily average fatalities due to Covid-19 has surged 48% to 239 while hospitalisations are also on the rise. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that the Delta variant now accounts for 83% of all sequenced Covid-19 cases in the country, a sharp rise from 50% at the beginning of July. With the Delta variant rapidly spreading across the country, public health experts are urging the US CDC to recommend face masks even for fully vaccinated people.
CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky said the decisions on mask mandates could vary locally depending on vaccination rates and surge in Covid-19 cases. She acknowledged that the United States is “at another pivotal moment in this pandemic” as the country is witnessing a resurgence of the virus. However, the agency has not given any indication of bringing back federal guidelines on face masks for fully vaccinated individuals.
