Beautiful Virgin Islands


Delta Variant "Greatest Threat" To US' Covid Efforts: Dr Anthony Fauci

Delta Variant "Greatest Threat" To US' Covid Efforts: Dr Anthony Fauci

The variant, which was first detected in India, is more contagious and causes more severe disease than other circulating variants, Dr Anthony Fauci said.
The highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus is the "greatest threat" to America's attempt to eradicate the Covid pandemic, the country's leading infectious disease expert and White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr Anthony Fauci has warned.

The variant, which was first detected in India, is more contagious and causes more severe disease than other circulating variants, he said on Tuesday during a White House Covid-19 response team briefing.

Fauci said the Delta variant now makes up more than 20 percent of all new cases in the US, nearly doubling from nearly 10 percent two weeks ago.

"Similar to the situation in the UK, the Delta variant is currently the greatest threat in the US to our attempt to eliminate COVID-19," Fauci told reporters during a virtual news conference.

However, the "good news" is that the US vaccines are effective against the Delta variant, said Dr Fauci, the head of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

"Conclusion, we have the tools, so let's use them and crush the outbreak," he asserted.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deemed Delta a "variant of concern" last week.

The Delta variant recently became the dominant strain in the UK, surpassing the Alpha variant first discovered in the country. The strain makes up more than 90 percent of new cases and delayed the UK's scheduled reopening.

The transmissibility of the Delta variant is unquestionably greater than the wild type SARS-CoV2 as well as the Alpha variant, Fauci said, adding that it is associated with increased disease severity as reflected by hospitalisation risk compared to the Alpha variant.

The Imperial College of London did a study in over 100,000 homes and found that youth were driving the UK's surge with a five-fold higher positivity among children aged 5-12 and young adults 18-24 years versus people older than 65 years old, he said.

"Look at what is happening in the United States. We have seen, as was the case with B.1.1.7, we seem to be following the pattern with the Delta variant with a doubling time of about two weeks if you look from May 8 with 1.2 to 2.7 to 9.9 and as of a couple of days ago 20.6 percent of the isolates are Delta," Dr Fauci said.

He said the United States has tools to address the challenge.

"The effectiveness of the vaccines, in this case, two weeks after the second dose of Pfizer BioNTech with 88 percent effective against the Delta and 93 percent effective against the Alpha when you are dealing with symptomatic disease," he said.

Rochelle Paula Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that CDC continues to follow the prevalence of the Delta variant of COVID-19.

In the last two weeks, the prevalence of cases resulting from the Delta variant has doubled to just over 20 percent. This variant represents nearly half of all infections, she said.

"This is concerning but expected knowing what we do about how efficiently this variant spreads and by what we saw in the United Kingdom with this variant.

"We know our vaccines work against this variant; however, this variant represents a set of mutations that could lead to future mutations that evade our vaccine, and that is why it is more important than ever to get vaccinated now to stop the chain of infection, the chain of mutations that could lead to a more dangerous variant," Walensky said.

The USCDC has classified the Delta as a "variant of concern."

"The B.1.1.7 (Alpha), B.1.351 (Beta), P.1 (Gamma), B.1.427 (Epsilon), B.1.429 (Epsilon), and B.1.617.2 (Delta) variants circulating in the United States are classified as variants of concern. To date, no variants of high consequence have been identified in the United States," the CDC said in a statement last week.

The World Health Organization classified the Delta variant as a variant of concern on May 10.

"This is the most transmissible of all the variants that we've seen," Dr Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN on Monday.

"We saw what happened in the UK, where it overtook the entire nation. So I'm worried that's going to happen in the US," he said.

Faced with a more transmissible variant, "it looks like we do see a resurgence late in the summer, or in the early fall," said Justin Lessler, an epidemiologist with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The most recent model finds that a Delta-like variant that's assumed to be 60 percent more transmissible than Alpha, coupled with 75 percent of eligible Americans getting vaccinated, can result in Covid-19 bouncing back from summer lows to cause more than 3,000 deaths per week at various points during the fall and winter.

That's about 1,000 more COVID-19 deaths than the US has seen over the past week, though still far below the peak of 24,000 deaths during the second week of January.

The US is the worst-hit nation due to the pandemic. The country has reported more than 33,566,000 confirmed cases and reported over 602,400 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 tracker.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Unelected PM of the UK holds an emergency meeting because a candidate got voted in… which he says is a threat to democracy…
I have a dream, MLK inspiring speech
Rob Schneider explains California reparations legislation.
Aretha Franklin, Marvis Staples - Oh Happy Day
Who knew badminton could get so intense?
BVI Freedom Song
Farmers break through police barriers in Brussels.
Billy Preston - You Can't Beat God Giving (Live)
London's Iconic British Telecom Tower Sold To Become Hotel
VIRGIN ISLANDS REGGAE CARIBBEAN RIDDIMZ
Ukraine Arrests Father-Son Duo In Lockbit Cybercrime Bust
Oh Happy Day Edwin Hawkins - Anthony Brown w FBCG Combined Choir
US Offers $15 Million For Info On Leaders Of Cybercrime Group Lockbit
'Stand by Me' performed by Karen Gibson and The Kingdom Choir
Russia Claims UK Cultural Agency Spied for Ukraine
National Anthem of the British Virgin Islands - Oh, Beautiful Virgin
Apple warns against drying iPhones with rice
Hello Dolly
Alexei Navalny: UK sanctions Russian prison chiefs after activist's death
for KING & COUNTRY - Amen (Reborn) [feat. Lecrae & The WRLDFMS Tony Wi
German economy is in 'troubled waters' - ministry
Bob Marley - Get Up Stand Up
In a recent High Court hearing, the U.S. argued that Julian Assange endangered lives by releasing classified information.
Yes He Can
New video
What A Friend We Have In Jesus
Tucker Carlson says Boris Johnson wants "a million dollars, in Bitcoin or cash, from Tucker Carlson to talk about Ukraine.
Unforgettable
Russia is rebuilding capacity to destabilize European countries, new UK report warns
Touch The Hem Of His Garment
EU Commission wants anti-drone defenses at Brussels HQ
The Lord's Prayer
Von der Leyen’s 2nd-term pitch: More military might, less climate talk
THE GOD MOVEMENT...BEAUTIFUL BVI
Global Law Enforcement Dismantles Lockbit Ransomware Operation
Siyahamba
Prince William Urges End to Gaza Conflict
Ray Charles And The Voices Of Jubilaton, Oh, Happy Day
UK court to hear Assange's final appeal against extradition to the US, where he faces charges related to his journalistic work—the publication of a classified video in 2010 that exposed US war crimes against humanity.
Ramblin' Rose
About 50-60% kids either chose to be YouTuber or influencer
Protoje - Who Knows ft. Chronixx
A viral video of Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce lying on a Canberra footpath is celebrated by his media mates.
Pressure - Virgin Islands Nice
European Countries React to Navalny's Death by Summoning Russian Diplomats
Phil Wickham - House Of The Lord
Israel has gone ‘beyond self-defence’ in Gaza, says Labour’s Streeting
My God Is Real (Yes, God Is Real)
English farmers to be offered ‘largest ever’ grant scheme amid food security concerns
The Lion King Circle of Life by LEBO M. — LIVE at the HAVASI Symphonic
Cameron government knew Post Office ditched Horizon IT investigation
Louis Armstrong - When The Saints Go Marching In
EU Calls for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza Conflict
Kanye West Sunday Service - hallelujah, salvation, and glory
EU Vows To Hold Putin "Accountable" After Meeting Alexei Navalny's Wife
Jonathan Nelson - I Believe (Island Medley
EU Launches Probe Into TikTok Over Child Protection Under Digital Content Law
From The Virgin Islands Sqad Up
The EU Initiates Naval Mission to Defend Red Sea Trade Routes
Common, John Legend - Glory
EU and UK Announce Joint Effort on Migration
Anthony Evans vs. Jesse Campbell - If I Ain't Got You
Brazil's Lula Likens Gaza Operation to Holocaust, Israel Says "Red Line" Crossed
I have a dream, MLK inspiring speech
Ministers Confirm Proposal to Prohibit Mobile Phone Usage in English Schools
Aretha Franklin, Marvis Staples - Oh Happy Day
Microsoft-backed OpenAI valued at $80bn after company completes deal
BVI Freedom Song
‘Alexei would want to tell Russia not to give up fighting’
Billy Preston - You Can't Beat God Giving (Live)
Rwandan Footballer's Dismissal Sparks Concerns Over UK Asylum Plan
VIRGIN ISLANDS REGGAE CARIBBEAN RIDDIMZ
Whisky Challenges China's Baijiu Market During New Year Celebrations
Oh Happy Day Edwin Hawkins - Anthony Brown w FBCG Combined Choir
Avdiivka - Symbol Of Ukrainian Resistance Now In Control Of Russian Troops
'Stand by Me' performed by Karen Gibson and The Kingdom Choir
Putin Critic Alexei Navalny's "Killers" Refusing To Hand Over Body, Say Allies
National Anthem of the British Virgin Islands - Oh, Beautiful Virgin
×