 |
| Dr Anthony Fauci said he was frustrated by the slump in vaccine uptake. (Photo by= Reuters) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] While infections rise among the unvaccinated,the US is heading "in the wrong direction" on the coronavirus pandemic, the country's top infectious disease expert has warned. BBC reported that Dr Anthony Fauci said the Delta variant of Covid-19 was driving the spike in areas with low vaccination rates.
He added health officials were considering revising mask guidance for vaccinated Americans to curb cases. Offering booster jabs to vulnerable people were also under review, he said. The coronavirus situation in the US is becoming "a pandemic among the unvaccinated", Dr. Fauci, the chief medical adviser to US President Joe Biden, told broadcaster CNN on Sunday.
Vaccination rates are particularly low in southern states, where fewer than half of residents have received their first dose in some cases. The resurgence has added to the more than 34 million cases and 610,000 deaths recorded so far in the US. The trend has been attributed, in part, to the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant of Covid. Earlier this week, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said 99.5% of Covid deaths were occurring among unvaccinated people. The US had been a world leader in jab uptake until April when vaccination rates started to drop off.
