Dr. Wollensky says the seven-day average of COVID cases has increased by 10% from the last seven-day average. Why is that?
On June 1, Dr. Wollensky spoke during a White House Response Briefing on the numbers of COVID-19 cases being seen in the US. COVID-19 deaths have gone down by more than 90% since January 20, 2021, and COVID-19 cases have had a 95% decrease since the peak in January 2021. However, the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases are up by 10% this week, compared to last week.
According to Dr. Wollensky, this could be due to communities of people that have yet to get vaccinated. She also explains how, because of the delta variant, COVID-19 continues to spread vastly; hitting states that have the largest number of unvaccinated people.
“There are communities that are vulnerable,” said Dr. Wollensky during the White House Briefing. She added that this is “due to what could be the spread of the delta variant and low vaccination rates in these communities.”
There are 1000 counties in the United States that have a vaccination coverage of less than 30%. The majority of these counties are located primarily in the South East and Midwest and could cause an increase in the spread of the delta variant.
Nonetheless, vaccines will continue to be donated to more countries in need to spread immunity to COVID-19. According to the White House Response team, the US will have shipped 40 million doses by the end of this week to Mexico, Korea, Canada, Brazil, Taiwan, Columbia, Pakistan, Peru, Ecuador, Malaysia, and Bangladesh. The president will continue to make more shipments of the vaccine to other countries in the near future to help end the pandemic.
By encouraging vaccinations in the US, as well as donating millions of vaccines overseas, the U.S. will be able to lower the number of COVID-19 cases.
The White House Response team encourages individuals to continue receiving their vaccine to defeat the Delta variant that has become the most prominent variant to sweep the nation. By doing this, we will be able to enjoy the 4th of July weekend with our family and loved ones, without staying six feet apart.