Washington, Jul 5 (FN Bureau) US President Joe Biden has congratulated Americans on the 4th of July, stressing that vaccination needs to continue in order for the United States to beat the coronavirus, particularly new variants such as the Delta strain. The US has “gained the upper hand” in the fight against COVID-19, Biden said in a Sunday address, adding nonetheless that “COVID-19 has not been vanquished. We all know powerful variants have emerged, like the Delta variant.”
Biden emphasized that vaccination remains the best defense when it comes to the coronavirus. US top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that about 99.2 percent of recent COVID-19 deaths in the United States involved unvaccinated people. Fauci said that the coronavirus is a “formidable enemy” but vaccination is highly effective, “And that’s the reason why it’s all the more sad and all the more tragic why it isn’t being completely implemented in this country.” Fauci told NBC that the United States has enough vaccinate to give shots to essentially everyone in the country.
Last month, Fauci said that the rapid rise of the Indian ‘Delta’ variant of the coronavirus demonstrated why it is so important for Americans to get vaccinated sooner rather than later. Since its global outbreak in March 2020, the coronavirus has impacted the United States more than any other country, with over 33.7 million Americans having been infected. The COVID-19 death toll in the US stands at over 605,500. Fauci said in May that the United States has a greater number of coronavirus deaths than the officially reported figures.