US records rise in COVID-19 cases as Delta variant dominates and vaccination rate declines

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 the unvaccinated people. The situation is alarming health experts and prompting people from specific areas to continue wearing masks even in indoors.

Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says 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 per cent 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.

Vaccination rates on decline

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 per cent.

Delta variant

An official of Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Amesh Adalja stated that the trajectory they are going to see in the United States is two different flavours of the pandemic, first where the more concerning thing is the places where the number of unvaccinated individuals is high. While in the other regions of the country, the pandemic will be treated more like any other virus. Even if Delta is the dominant strain, Adalja believes there will be a 'decoupling' of hospitalizations and casualties due to an increase in cases in highly vaccinated areas which were seen in Israel. Experts argue that evidence shows that the Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca vaccinations have retained high efficiency and that the Moderna vaccine will almost definitely do the same.

Inputs from AP News