Dr. Peter Hotez cautioned that Southern U.S. states might feel the effect of the extremely transmissible Delta Covid version as early as this summertime, due in part to low vaccination rates.Â
“I’m really holding my breath about the South and what happens over the summer,” stated Hotez, co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital.
“Here in the South, particularly in Louisiana, Mississippi, we’re seeing really low vaccination rates. And less than 10% of adolescents are vaccinated in many of these southern states, so we have a real vulnerability here,” Hotez stated.
A brand-new research study in the U.K. discovered Pfizer’s vaccine is 88% efficient versus the Delta version, which was very first found in India.
Vaccination rates differ throughout the U.S.: More than 50% of the population in numerous Northeastern states is now completely immunized, compared to simply around 30% of the population in numerous Southeastern states, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Â
On Tuesday, White House primary medical consultant Dr. Anthony Fauci, worried the value of vaccines to secure versus the Delta version, which he stated represent more than 6% of the U.S. coronavirus infections that researchers have actually genetically sequenced.
Hotez likewise informed CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that he’s still advising Covid vaccinations to teenagers, regardless of CDC cautions over a higher-than-expected variety of cases of heart swelling in 16- to 24-year-olds.
“I’m pretty convinced that the possibility of severe Covid-19 from this new Delta variant is a far bigger concern, so I’m strongly recommending for adolescents to get their two doses of the vaccine,” Hotez stated.
