“We would not be where we are with this Delta variant boom if we had been more effective in vaccinating everyone,” said the director of the National Institutes of Health.
United States “is failing” in combating the pandemic of the coronavirus , warned on Sunday 8 August a senior public health at a time when the country recorded the highest levels of infections in six months.
The total of new daily cases reached 118,000, its highest level since February, while deaths increased 89% in the last two weeks despite the fact that in the world they are decreasing slightly. In addition, children’s hospitals in states like Florida are “overwhelmed” as young people are increasingly affected.
“We should never have gotten to the place we are at”said Francis Collins , director of the National Institutes of Health, on ABC’s This Week. “Yes, we are failing,” he remarked.
Fears about the Delta variant have led to rising vaccination rates.
“We would not be where we are with this delta boom if we had been more effective in vaccinating everyone,” Collins said. “Now we are paying a terrible price,” he said.
Anthony Fauci , director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, highlighted, in remarks to NBC, the possible final approval this month of key vaccines by the federal drug agency (FDA).
Fauci, who advises President Joe Biden on health, warned that if the Delta variant is not controlled, the chances of a new variant emerging that “could be more problematic than delta” will increase.
“Outbreaks are likely to occur in schools, and the children will have to go back to distance learning, which is what we most want to avoid, ”he said.
According to the expert, the number of children hospitalized with coronavirus is now at an all-time high of 1,450.
Battle against the masks
The Centers for Disease Control tweeted this Sunday that even asymptomatic children can transmit the disease and defended the use of masks “in closed environments, including schools.”
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on CBS urged schools, many of which have free vaccination clinics, to “let educational leaders lead.”
Collins expressed his exasperation that the vaccine and mask use debates have become politicized: “This is not a political statement or an invasion of your freedoms. It is a medical device that saves lives ”.