CDC: Deadly Delta COVID variant may become dominant strain in US

The deadly Delta coronavirus variant will “probably” become the dominant strain in the United States in the coming months, according to the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“It's more transmissible than the Alpha variant or UK variant that we have here. We saw that quickly become the dominant strain in a period of one or two months,” Rochelle Walensky told "Good Morning America" on Friday.

Walensky added, “I anticipate that is going to be what happens with the Delta strain here.”

The deadly B.1.617.2 variant, known as Delta coronavirus variant, was first identified in India.

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Walensky noted that vaccines have been effective against the new variants of the coronavirus; however, she said the virus could mutate, making the vaccines presently administrated less effective.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden, who also warned about the deadly risks posed by the deadly and highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant, urged Americans who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get inoculated as quickly as possible.

“Even while we're making incredible progress, it remains a serious and deadly threat,” Biden warned.

He noted that the Delta variant leaves those people who had not been inoculated “even more vulnerable than they were a month ago.”

Biden further warned that “particularly young people" were not immune and they should not be weary of the pandemic and continue to protect themselves against the dangers posed by the more easily transmissible and potentially deadlier Delta coronavirus variant.

“It’s a variant that is more easily transmissible, potentially deadlier and particularly dangerous for young people, but the good news is we have the solution,” Biden continued, adding that the “science and the data are clear” that vaccines are the most effective form of protection against the variant.

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He encouraged Americans who have unsolved questions in their minds about the vaccine to seek consultation of friends, family members and their doctors.

Biden claimed that if everything goes right, the US was headed towards a virus-free summer.

“We’re heading into, God willing, the summer of joy, the summer of freedom,” Biden said.

In related news, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy also warned that the Delta coronavirus variant was spreading across the US rapidly and all needed to be vaccinated.

"I'm worried about those who are unvaccinated," Murthy told CNN. The Delta coronavirus variant "is rapidly increasing here in the United States."

The Delta coronavirus variant "appears to be significantly more transmissible than even the Alpha variant or the UK variant, which is now dominant in the United States."

Delta COVID-19 variant 'rapidly increasing' in US, surgeon general says

The Delta coronavirus variant -- the B.1.617.2 variant first identified in India – is quickly spreading across the United States, US surgeon general said.

His warning on CNN came as the pace of coronavirus vaccinations across the US lost momentum, leaving unvaccinated Americans vulnerable to COVID-19 disease.

Murthy pleaded to Americans to get both shots of the vaccine.

"The key is get vaccinated, get both doses," he insisted.

Till now more 34 million cases of coronavirus infection have been reported in the US, with the death toll from COVID-19 reaching close to 620 hundred thousand.

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