Unvaccinated people risk ‘most serious virus of their lives’, says former FDA chief as Delta variant of Covid spreads

‘It’s going to be the most serious virus that they get in their lifetime in terms of the risk of putting them in the hospital,’ says former head of FDA

Hospitalisation rates are growing across the US and it is believed to be because of the Delta variant. (Getty Images)

Medical professionals are expressing concern about Covid-19 vaccination rates in the US as the Delta variant spreads, especially in under vaccinated areas, according to reports.

The former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, under President Donald Trump, Dr Scott Gottlieb, warned that the strain that was first identified in India is a “serious virus”.

"And for most people who get this Delta variant, it’s going to be the most serious virus that they get in their lifetime in terms of the risk of putting them in the hospital," he said while appearing on Face The Nation on CBS.

Preliminary data from the CDC earlier in the month showed that 99.5 per cent of deaths were those who were unvaccinated. This finding was repeated by Dr Vivek Murthy, the US surgeon general, while talking to Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union, who expressed concern about the unvaccinated.

He went into detail about how the Delta variant was the most transmissible strain of the pandemic yet, especially to those who have not had the vaccine. In states such as Mississippi and Alabama, the percentage of eligible fully vaccinated people is roughly at 33 per cent, according to data. President Joe Biden attempted to get 70 per cent of the population vaccinated with at least one dose by 4 July, a target he missed by nearly three per cent.

Dr Murthy condemned social media companies for not working hard enough to battle against misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine, citing it as a factor in why some people are opting not to get their jab.

He began, “Some of them have worked to try to, you know, promote accurate sources like the CDC and other medical sources. Others have tried to reduce the prevalence of false sources and search results.”

“But what I’ve also said to them, publicly and privately, is that it’s not enough. That we are still seeing a proliferation of misinformation online. And we know that health misinformation harms people’s health. It costs them their lives,” Dr Murthy continued.

According to Dr Murthy, some areas of the country are experiencing significant Covid spikes, such as Los Angeles County, which has reported a 300 per cent increase since 4 July. Rates of hospitalisations have increased more than 100 per cent since June. According to data from John Hopkins University, 48 states are seeing a rise in cases with a minimum increase of 10 per cent. This is believed to be due to the Delta variant.