The most relevant data about the variant delta 6:13
(CNN) -
Fully vaccinated people who contract COVID-19 can transmit the virus, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said on Thursday.
"Our vaccines are working exceptionally well," Walensky told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
"They still work well for (the variant) delta, with respect to serious illness and death; they prevent it. But what they can no longer do is prevent transmission."
That's why the CDC changed its guidance last week and is now recommending that even vaccinated people wear masks indoors again, Walensky said.
As long as the coronavirus continues to spread, there is the possibility of a variant worse than delta, says Fauci
Concerns increase in cases of delta variant in Florida 0:55
Last week, the agency published a study that showed that the delta variant produced similar amounts of virus in vaccinated and unvaccinated people if they became infected;
data suggesting that vaccinated people who contract COVID-19 may have a similar tendency to spread the virus as unvaccinated people.
"If you are at home with someone who has not been vaccinated, someone who cannot be vaccinated, someone who might be immunosuppressed or a little fragile, someone who has comorbidities that put them at high risk, I would suggest wearing a mask in closed public spaces. "Walensky said.
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The dangerous delta variant has fueled the latest increase in covid-19 cases in the country and if more Americans don't get vaccinated and don't wear a mask, the country could soon see "several hundred thousand cases a day," similar to the increase in winter, Walensky said.
And while states across the South - including Florida and Louisiana - have seen exponential increases in cases, Walensky said, they haven't peaked yet.
How does the new CDC guide on masks change the way you take care of yourself against COVID-19?
An expert opinion
Concerns increase in cases of delta variant in Florida 0:55
"The next variant is around the corner"
Vaccinating more people will not only help squash this increase, experts say.
It will help prevent other, potentially even more aggressive variants from emerging in the future.
"The next variant is right around the corner, if we don't all get vaccinated," Admiral Brett Giroir, the exzar of coronavirus testing during Donald Trump's presidency, told CNN's Chris Cuomo.
"I just beg the American people to understand that to defeat this virus, we have to increase everyone's level of immunity, and that is how it is."
About 58.2% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, CDC data shows, and about 49.9% are fully vaccinated.
There was some encouraging news Thursday as White House Chief Data Officer Dr. Cyrus Shahpar tweeted that the highest number of doses administered in a single day in more than a month was reported.
He said more than 864,000 doses given over the previous day's total had been reported, including about 585,000 people who received their first dose.
USA resumes face-to-face classes, but with restrictions 2:39
In the coming weeks, surges are likely to hit the entire United States, not just areas with low vaccination rates, former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said Wednesday.
However, the outbreaks will not be as explosive in areas with higher vaccination coverage, Frieden added.
As cases rise, hospitalizations and deaths are likely to rise as well, according to joint forecasts released Wednesday by the CDC.
The forecast predicts that a total of 624,000 to 642,000 deaths will be reported by August 28.
As of Wednesday, there have been 614,342 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
If you are not protected against COVID-19, the virus is likely to infect you, Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told CNN's Pamela Brown on Wednesday.
"This virus is highly infectious. If you think you can beat this virus, don't try to do it. This virus will find you, it will eventually infect you," Osterholm said.
Fortunately, available vaccines appear to offer a strong defense against the delta variant, especially when it comes to serious illness and death, Frieden said.
"We are at war with this virus that has already killed more than 610,000 Americans. We now have the tools with vaccines and masks to stop further death, suffering and destruction," CNN medical analyst Leana Wen said Wednesday.
FDA May Design Vaccine Booster Strategy Next Month
Meanwhile, as more questions arise about whether fully vaccinated Americans will need booster shots, a Biden administration official told CNN that internal discussions at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) They have focused on an early September timeline for devising a strategy.
That strategy would apply to all vaccinated people.
A decision is expected for those who are immunosuppressed and face a higher risk of covid-19 sooner, the official said.
Earlier this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that people with compromised immune systems may need additional protection after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, and there is an effort to make booster shots available to those people "very soon. ".
"There are people who are immunosuppressed: transplant patients, cancer chemotherapy patients, patients on an immunosuppressive regimen, for example, for autoimmune diseases," Fauci said during a virtual event hosted by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam on Tuesday.
"Those individuals that we meet almost invariably do not have an adequate response, so the need to give them an extra boost is much more emerging than the general population."
CDC vaccine advisers have met to discuss whether immunosuppressed people may need additional protection from a booster shot, but have not tabled a recommendation or voted on guidance.
On Wednesday, US Chief Health Officer Vivek Murthy said a federal government recommendation on vaccine boosters will come "if and when" there is evidence that the increase in infections is due to decreased immunity from the vaccine. .
"I recognize that individual physicians and their patients can make a decision ... about ... receiving an additional dose and that may be as it is, but formally, we cannot make that recommendation yet until we consider the data to be clear and indicates reinforcements are required, "Murthy said.
Covid-19 infections expected in vaccinated people, but the unvaccinated are 'the great highway of transmission', experts say
Covid-19 could affect concentration and mental health of children 0:48
"We have let our children down," says FDA vaccine adviser
Low rates of vaccination against COVID-19 in the United States put children, many of whom cannot be vaccinated, at risk, said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine adviser for the US Food and Drug Administration, on Wednesday.
"I think we've let our kids down," Offit told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
There is currently no licensed vaccine for children under the age of 12 in the United States, so young children depend on vaccinating those around them to protect them, Offit explained.
And many children who are 12 and older have not yet been vaccinated, he added.
Offit noted that many children are about to go back to school, during a time of year when the virus is more easily transmitted and the delta variant circulates.
"We need to increase vaccination rates, so that these children can be protected," Offit said.
Highlighting that point, the president of Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, told CNN that his staff are seeing babies in the neonatal intensive care unit sick with COVID-19.
Dr. Trey Dunbar told CNN that children are falling victim to a pandemic that has a simple solution: adult vaccination.
"Covid is a preventable disease," he said. "It is difficult for us as pediatricians to see children affected by a preventable disease. Children are not like adults. They do not have the option to get vaccinated. So, yes, it makes a big difference when adults make decisions for children and adults. Adults make decisions that could perhaps prevent the diseases we see in children, "Dunbar said.
Concerns about America's youngest children arise as schools across the country prepare to reopen, and as district leaders try to navigate the safest way back. The fact that children wear masks remains a point of contention in US communities, with some states requiring masks in schools, while others have banned the use of masks.
On Thursday, Metro Nashville Public Schools sent a letter to families saying that students, staff and visitors will be required to wear masks in school buildings when the school year begins next week.
Masks will also be required on school buses, but not outdoors, the district said, adding that the rule will remain in place "until further notice."
New record for hospitalizations in the US due to covid-19 0:27
Only six ICU beds available in a state
Even after the development and launch of the covid-19 vaccines that so many healthcare professionals waited for, the surge in cases has led to overwhelmed hospitals.
Arkansas health officials reported a "record number of available ICU beds" on Wednesday.
According to Arkansas Department of Health Public Information Officer Danyelle McNeill, the state had only 25 ICU beds available.
According to the Arkansas covid-19 dashboard, there were a total of 1,232 positive covid-19 admissions.
The total number of positive admissions for COVID-19 in the ICU is 466, and the total number of positive admissions for COVID-19 in ventilators is 260.
As of Wednesday morning, Mississippi had only six open ICU beds available statewide, Dr. Jonathan Wilson, administrative director and covid-19 incident manager, during a covid-19 briefing with Center leaders University of Mississippi Physician.
"A very simple number, six. That's the number of open ICU beds we had in the state of Mississippi this morning. Six. So the situation is getting desperate, not just here at the Medical Center, here at Metro. Jackson, but the entire state. Our neighboring states are going through similar situations, "Wilson said.
"We are doing the best that we can, from the point of view of the state, to try to distribute to patients to ensure that the medical care that we know is provided. But we are not on the cusp of this, we know that we are not on the crest. from this wave and it's bad, but it's probably going to get a little worse, "added Wilson.
- CNN's Lauren Mascarenhas, Elizabeth Stuart, Kaitlan Collins, Naomi Thomas, Deidre McPhillips, Jeff Simon, Nadia Romero and Raja Razek contributed to this report.
