Today, the COVID Response Team reiterated the importance of getting the United States vaccinated.
COVID-19 cases are up by 70% from the last seven-day average, hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are up by 36% from the last seven-day average, and COVID-19 deaths are up by 26% from the last seven-day average. This is due to the delta variant that is continuing to sweep the nation. Now, more than ever, the White House hopes to see more individuals get vaccinated against the variant.
According to Dr. Walensky, this is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated. 10% of countries have moved into high transmission risk, and 7% of countries have moved into substantial risk. Unfortunately, all the individuals at risk in these countries, including the US, are among the unvaccinated. This includes all hospitalizations and COVID-related deaths that are of the unvaccinated. The response team encourages everyone to not wait to get the vaccine.
“Our biggest concern is that we are going to continue to see preventable cases,” said Dr. Walensky during a COVID briefing. “I want to reiterate that people who got Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are most effective, especially against the delta variant. When given as two shots in series, both vaccines are most effective two weeks after the second dose with each exceeding 90% effectiveness.”
According to Dr. Fauci, the delta variant has dominated by 50% in our country, and even 70% in the most unvaccinated areas of our country. The COVID Response Team stated that some states are more at risk for these dominations than others:
— Florida (1/5 cases in the United States are now occurring in Florida).
— Arkansas
— Louisiana
— Missouri
— Nevada
The CDC and FDA both say that Americans who have been fully vaccinated are highly safe against the delta variant and will not need a booster shot just yet. Now, more than ever, we need the unvaccinated to get vaccinated.
To help, all healthcare providers are now encouraged to talk to their patients about receiving the COVID-19 shot in hopes of putting a decline on the COVID-19 seven-day averages.