Unvaccinated people are at risk from a potentially more dangerous Covid-19 variant --US Surgeon General

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Thu, 2021-06-10 11:14 — mike kraft

(CNN) As a renewed sense of optimism sweeps the US this summer with lower reported Covid-19 cases, the US surgeon general has issued a warning for those not vaccinated: Don't let your guard down quite yet.

"For those who are unvaccinated, they are increasingly at risk as more and more variants develop," Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN on Wednesday, specifically citing the B.1.617.2, or Delta variant, first identified in India.

"The news about the Delta variant is evidence of really why it's so important for us to get vaccinated as soon as possible," he said, adding that the variant is more transmissible and potentially more dangerous.

Concern over the risk of variants bringing an end to a nationwide reopening is shared by many health experts and officials.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, noted in an interview with CNN that the United Kingdom was earlier stricken with the B.1.1.7, or Alpha, variant before Delta infections became predominant.

We don't want to let happen in the United States what is happening currently in the UK, where you have a troublesome variant essentially taking over as the dominant variant, which has made it a very difficult situation in the UK," he said Wednesday, adding that the Delta variant accounts for more than 6% of sequenced virus in the US.

While the US has "done very well" with vaccinating its population, Fauci said, "we cannot declare victory prematurely because there are still a substantial proportion of people who have not been vaccinated."

Vaccination rates throughout the country are continuing at an uneven pace. Eight states have fully vaccinated more than half of their residents: Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont, which leads the country with nearly 60% of residents fully vaccinated, recent CDC data shows.

Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Wyoming have among the lowest vaccination rates in the country, according to CDC data. And officials are urging citizens that the best way to get ahead of the variants is with vaccinations. ...

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