Story at a glance
- World Health Organization leader Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world is entering into a “very dangerous period” as the highly transmissible coronavirus variant first discovered in India has reached more than 100 countries.
- Tedros told reporters at a briefing Friday that the delta variant continues to adapt and is quickly becoming the dominant variant in many countries.
- The delta variant accounts for more than 26 percent of all new cases in the U.S., data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world is entering into a “very dangerous period” as the highly transmissible coronavirus delta variant, first discovered in India, has reached more than 100 countries.
Tedros told reporters at a briefing Friday that the delta variant continues to adapt and is quickly becoming the dominant variant in many countries, The Associated Press reported. The delta variant accounts for more than 26 percent of all new cases in the U.S., data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.
“I have already urged leaders across the world to ensure that by this time next year, 70% of all people in every country are vaccinated,” Tedros continued, according to the AP.
The White House announced last week that the U.S. would fall just shy of President Biden’s goal to partially vaccinate 70 percent of U.S. adults by July 4. Current data shows nearly 67 percent of U.S. eligible adults have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CORONAVIRUS RIGHT NOW
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FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER EXPLAINS WHY US WILL ALWAYS HAVE NEW COVID-19 CASES FROM NOW ON
EXPERT SAYS NEW COVID-19 OUTBREAKS WILL BE ‘VERY DENSE’ IN CERTAIN PARTS OF THE COUNTRY
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U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned Tuesday that unvaccinated Americans could be “in trouble” as experts note an uptick in COVID-19 cases in regions with vaccination rates below the national average.
“We’ve learned that this virus, this variant of COVID-19, is highly transmissible, the most transmissible that we’ve seen to date,” he told CNN.
Likewise, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies program Mike Ryan said in June that the “delta variant is faster, it is fitter, it will pick off the more vulnerable more efficiently than previous variants, and therefore if there are people left without vaccination, they remain even at further risk.”
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But Murthy expressed confidence Tuesday that COVID-19 vaccinations offer a glimmer of hope against potential infection.
“The good news is if you are vaccinated, and fully vaccinated means two weeks after your last shot, then there is good evidence that you have a high degree of protection against this virus,” he said.
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