Anthony Fauci urged Americans to continue getting vaccinated as he warned about a dangerous new COVID variant becoming the dominant strain in the United States.
The White House chief medical adviser warned of the so-called ‘Delta’ variant, a strain first noticed in India.
Fauci said that the new Indian variant could overtake the highly-contagious UK variant, known as B117, during a White House COVID-19 task force briefing.
“We cannot let that happen in the United States, which is such a powerful argument … to get vaccinated,” he said.
“Fortunately, two doses of the Pfizer vaccine and AstraZeneca appear to be effective against the ‘Delta’ variant,” he explained.
Fauci Urges Vaccinations To Combat New COVID Variant
Fauci’s push to get Americans vaccinated as a means to combat the new COVID variants comes as the Biden administration has been seeking to get 70 percent of Americans to receive at least one shot.
“We’re going to hit 70 percent of the population, the adult population, by the Fourth of July,” a confident Fauci predicted in an interview on Live! with Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest.
The rate of daily vaccinations, however, has been on a downward trend, decreasing from an average of three million per day in April to less than 1.5 million per day currently.
TODAY host Savannah Guthrie asked CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky if the current pace is adequate to hit the president’s target or if a push is needed.
Walensky appeared to deflect, saying she anticipates the incentives will “meet [people] where they are.”
Fauci’s comments seem to indicate that yes, a push is needed.
