As the Delta variant spreads, Fauci warns there may soon be 'two Americas' as divide widens between places with high and low vaccination rates

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Wed, 2021-06-30 17:29 — mike kraft

Fauci warns there may soon be 'two Americas' as divide widens between places with high and low vaccination rates With the Delta variant accounting for more than a quarter of Covid-19 cases, there could soon be "two Americas" -- one where most people are vaccinated and another where low vaccination rates could lead to case spikes, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned. Aya Elamroussi, CNN CNN

(CNN) With the Delta variant accounting for more than a quarter of Covid-19 cases, there could soon be "two Americas" -- one where most people are vaccinated and another where low vaccination rates could lead to case spikes, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned.

The stark disparity between places with low and high vaccination rates is something Fauci is "very concerned about," he told CNN on Tuesday.

When you have such a low level of vaccination superimposed upon a variant that has a high degree of efficiency of spread, what you are going to see among undervaccinated regions -- be that states, cities or counties -- you're going to see these individual types of blips," he said. "It's almost like it's going to be two Americas."

But spikes in coronavirus cases are "entirely avoidable, entirely preventable" with vaccination, said Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Fauci's remarks come as the Delta variant, which is more contagious and aggressive, has reached nearly every state and accounted for 26.1% of US Covid-19 cases as of Tuesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"I'm concerned about the Delta variant," US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN on Wednesday. "And I am worried that what we are seeing in terms of a plateauing of cases nationally but also an increase in cases in many small sections of the United States, that that is, in fact, being driven by the Delta variant."

There is still a lot of virus circulating in the US, and close to 300 people -- "just far too many" -- are still dying daily from the coronavirus, Murthy said, citing data from recent weeks. ...

In Mississippi, where just 29.7% of the population is fully vaccinated, unvaccinated people have accounted for more than 90% of Covid-19 cases and deaths in the past month, said Dr. Thomas Dobbs, the state health officer for the Mississippi Department of Public Health. ...

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