US President Joe Biden wishes to 'do better' on COVID-19 vaccination amidst spike in cases

The US President expressed concerns over the lag in COVID-19 vaccinations in the country. On Tuesday, July 28, Joe Biden said that Americans "still need to do better" after the US Health authorities tightened rules previously announced, like mask-wearing mandates. The thread of announcements come at the heels of surging infections in several parts of the country and the move by Centres for Disease Control (CDC) to ensure mask-wearing while indoors in high-risk areas.

The Biden administration has informed that a new set of COVID-19 rules shall be laid out to curb the spike in infections caused because of the Delta Variant of the SARS-COV-2, which was first found in India. However, the US government is yet to determine mandatory immunization for US federal workers.

Director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rochelle Walensky, stated new data showing that Delta Variant breakthrough cases have a higher risk of onward transmission. She said that CDC recommends fully vaccinated people to wear masks in public indoor settings in areas with considerable and high transmission chances. The announcement has come two months after the agency had previously released protocols about people wearing masks, owing to the then Alpha Variant which was less dangerous.

Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a statement on COVID-19 Delta Variant informed that the seven-day average of new cases was 13,859 on Tuesday, July 6, which came up 21% from two weeks earlier. According to the CDC, the Delta variant, which is more transmissible than any previous strain, accounted for approximately 52% of cases in the last two weeks ending Saturday, July 3 because of the reporting lag following the holiday weekend of Sunday, July 4, cases attributed to the most recent days may rise more.

COVID-19 cases spike in US yet vaccination remains stagnant

Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases are on the spike once again in the US as the Delta variant takes hold and vaccines remain stagnant. The infectious Coronavirus strain has spread among unvaccinated people. The situation is alarming as health experts have told people from specific areas to continue wearing masks even indoors.

The United States of America has one of the greatest vaccine availability rates of any country but despite that fact, their immunisation campaign has been on the decline since April. Lower vaccination rates in the Midwest and South are leading to greater case rates than high vaccination rates in the Northeast, a trend that has become increasingly apparent in recent weeks. President Joe Biden had a goal of having 70% of adults vaccinated at least partially by Independence Day but he has failed in that, with the current figure showing only 67%.

(Inputs: AP)