Many parts of the United States can expect further increases in Covid cases thanks to late vaccination rates and increased cases of the more transmissible and deadly delta variant, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
areas of them Southeast and Midwest, where vaccination rates are lower, are those most at risk – and this may require safety measures, such as wearing a mask again.
« [I]In some places, some states, some cities, some areas, where the level of immunization is low and the level of virus spread is high, that’s where you’re going to see peaks,” Fauci, chief medical adviser, said at the White House. Chuck Todd during an interview with Meet the Press on NBC Sunday.
“We have a large country with a disparity in vaccination readiness,” Fauci said. While 67% of adults in the United States in general have Receive at least one dose Vaccine against covid, « There are some countries where the immunization level of individuals is 35% or less, he said.
Currently, the states with the lowest vaccination rates are Mississippi (30% of those vaccinated), Alabama (33%), Wyoming (35%) and Arkansas (34%), according to the Our world in data.
Some regions are already seeing the effects of low vaccination rates. Recent data from Johns Hopkins University shows states with late vaccination rates have nearly three times more new cases of Covid than states with higher vaccination rates, CNN mentioned Monday.
Arkansas, for example, with a vaccination rate of 34%, has 17 new daily cases per 100,000 inhabitants, versus Vermont, the most vaccinated state in the country with 66% immunization, which has only 0.4 cases per 100,000 residents.
In addition, non-immunized people are more at risk due to the delta variant, which is “faster and more convenient.” [and] It will eliminate the most vulnerable more effectively than previous variants, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said at a press conference on June 21.
The potential for more outbreaks means that in these environments where there is a high level of virus and a low level of immunization, there is a “good reason” to take additional safety precautions, such as wearing an equal mask. If you have been vaccinated, Fauci mentioned.
In May, the CDC said fully vaccinated people could stop wearing masks and social distancing indoors and outdoors.
But local governments responsible for setting restrictions, such as mask orders, are appropriate given the level of prevalence and vaccination rate in the community. For example, due to the increase in Covid cases attributed to the delta variable, Los Angeles County public health officials On June 28 it recommended that everyone, including those vaccinated, wear masks in public.
However, it is unlikely that there will be a file Peak nationwide As in the United States last fall and winter, given the proportion of people who are vaccinated now, Fauci said. The average full vaccination rate in the country is 47%.
Fauci said the discrepancy in vaccination rates across the country will lead to “the Americas” – one where the risk of Covid mutations is high and one where the majority of people are vaccinated and the risk is low.
Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Institute for Translational Research, predicted that the United States would experience “this patchwork phenomenon,” he said. American scientist. “Some places will light up, and I hope they won’t light up too badly.”
While geographic enclaves with high vaccination rates may be safe, Dr. F. Perry WilsonIt may be possible for the virus to “jump and jump and jump from one poorly vaccinated area to another,” said an epidemiologist at Yale Medicine, leading to Epidemics “extra-local”, in an interview with Yale Medicine.
“As we’ve often said, vaccines are not very good and effective, and nothing is 100%,” Fauci said.
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