Rochelle Walensky told Fox News on Friday.
The CDC this week changed its guidance on mask usage and advises vaccinated people to resume mask wearing indoors in areas of sustained or high transmission of the virus.A recent study shows the Delta variant can produce similar amounts of virus in both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, yet real-world data is demonstrating that unvaccinated people are at much higher risk for severe illness.More than 80% of the US population — about 274 million people — live in a county considered to have "high" or "substantial" Covid-19 transmission, according to a CNN analysis of data published Friday by the CDC.ICUs are filling up againAs the Delta variant spreads, hospitalizations are accumulating to levels of concern.He pointed to data that shows 88% of hospitalizations are among unvaccinated people, and it is having a "significant spill-over effect to older, vaccinated Mississippians."
In Texas, Austin Public Health says the region is facing the lowest staffed ICU bed capacity since the beginning of the pandemic, with only 16 staffed beds available."Our ICU capacity is reaching a critical point where the level of risk to the entire community has significantly increased, and not just to those who are needing treatment for Covid," Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr.Neil Finkler said on Friday that over 90% of the Covid-19 patients currently hospitalized are unvaccinated.