US President Joe Biden urged to fast pace the vaccination drive with a target of inoculating 70% of Americans with at least one vaccine shot by July 4, amidst the rising Delta variant concerns.
Biden and the top medical expert of the country Anthony Fauci have alarmed about the highly infectious strain that was first identified in India and is now dominating in the United Kingdom (UK).
The Delta variant of Covid-19 currently accounts for over 6% of the cases being sequenced in the United States, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and an adviser Anthony Fauci told ABC News.
The actual figure is likely higher as America is running the genetic sequence on a fraction of cases.
The Indian SARS-CoV2 variant has become the dominant strain in the UK, existing in almost 60% of new cases. This strain is now more prevalent than the Alpha strain, formerly called the B.1.1.7 strain that was first found in the UK and now infecting people between the ages of 12 and 20, said Fauci addressing the press.
“In the UK, the Delta variant is rapidly emerging as the dominant variant replacing the B.1.17,” Fauci told CNBC. “We cannot let that happen in the United States.
On the other hand, President Biden also warned people, saying, “A highly infectious Covid-19 strain is spreading among youth aged between 12 and 20 years in the UK.”
As of June 8, 63% of adults have got at least the first jab of a coronavirus vaccine. In addition, 12 states across the US have crossed 70%, and more are expected to get vaccinated there this week, said Biden.
More than half of adults have fully been inoculated, leading to a plunge in the toll from the Covid-19 virus that has killed around 600,000 Americans so far.
President Biden has already started working to meet the target of giving one vaccine shot to the 70% of Americans by July 4, the nation’s Independence Day.
