US "marching in the wrong direction" on COVID-19, according to Fauci

The country's leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said this Sunday that in the United States "we are going in the wrong direction" in the coronavirus pandemic due to the high number of new infections and hospitalizations.

Fauci said in an interview with CNN on Sunday that the country is in "an unnecessary bind" due to the spread of the highly contagious delta variant and low vaccination rates in some parts of the country.

It is a preventable situation that, he said, has made him feel "very frustrated."

For this reason, the expert indicated, the main government health officials are seriously considering

recommending to the entire population, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or not, to wear a mask in closed spaces

.

[Follow all our coverage on the COVID-19 pandemic here]

He also confirmed that they are considering the possibility of the most vulnerable people receiving a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines as a booster.

Fauci, who also serves as the president's chief medical adviser, Joe Biden, assured in his interview with the aforementioned media that he has personally participated in the conversations about modifying the guidelines on the use of the mask.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's leading infectious disease expert, during a Congressional hearing on July 20, 2021.AP

As an example, he noted that in some places where infections are increasing, such as Los Angeles County, local authorities are already requiring residents to wear the masks in public spaces without good ventilation, even if they have already been vaccinated.

Nearly 163 million people, or

49% of the eligible population in the United States, are already vaccinated

, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It is precisely the people who have not been inoculated who are ending up in hospital wards after becoming seriously ill with COVID-19.

"It will protect against the advance of the delta variant": Fauci insists on the key role of vaccination against COVID-19

July 8, 202101: 06

"This is a problem predominantly among the unvaccinated, which is why we practically go out and beg unvaccinated people to go out and get vaccinated,"

Fauci said.

If not, he said, "we will be in trouble for the fall."

Government health experts are evaluating available data to determine whether a third booster dose of coronavirus vaccines is necessary.

Fauci suggested that some of the most vulnerable, such as cancer patients or those who received organ transplants, are likely to have the injection of the booster recommended.

[A 5-year-old boy dies of COVID-19 in Georgia as cases rise across the country: "He was so healthy and happy"]

The expert also praised Republican governors who have encouraged their voters to get vaccinated, including Ron DeSantis of Florida and Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, two of the states where non-inoculated hospitalizations have risen sharply.

"What I would really like to see is that more and more leaders in those places where people have not gone out to get vaccinated encourage them to do so," Fauci added.

With information from The Associated Press.