The study also found that people who are not vaccinated against the virus were also 4.6 times likelier to get infected.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Friday said, "Looking at cases over the past two months when the Delta variant was the predominant variant circulating in this country, those who were unvaccinated were about four and a half times more likely to get COVID-19, over 10 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 11 times more likely to die from the disease."

The CDC's latest data, published as three studies in the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, are also the latest sign that booster shots could become necessary in the coming months for many.

The study was conducted as the Delta variant became the dominant strain of the virus in the USA, where the CDC examined outcomes among patients who visited medical facilities' urgent care departments, emergency rooms as well as veterans' hospitals.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said those who were unvaccinated were about four and a half times more likely to get COVID-19, over 10 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 11 times more likely to die from the disease.

Study conducted on 600K people in US

The CDC says this new study spans more than 600,000 people from over 13 jurisdictions and of the major conclusions, the CDC found that unvaccinated populations were over 10 times more likely to be hospitalized than vaccinated

CDC, Director Walensky further said the data shows that the vaccine works, “The bottom line is this, we have the scientific tools we need to turn the corner on this pandemic, vaccination works and will protect us from the severe complications of COVID-19.”

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said early Saturday that it had recorded 223.9 million global COVID-19 cases and 4.6 million deaths. The center said 5.6 billion vaccine doses have been administered.