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The surgeon general said he was worried about the millions of unvaccinated people
Local authorities have the right to re-implement mitigation strategies to stop the spread of COVID-19 amid an increase in cases fueled by the delta variant, U.S. surgeon general Vivek Murthy said on Sunday.
“Unfortunately, we are seeing an increase, especially among the unvaccinated in many parts of the country,” Murthy told ABC “This Week” co-host Martha Raddatz.
About 97% of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States are among the unvaccinated and at least 58% of currently reported cases were directly related to the delta variant. At the end of May, the variant was estimated at just over 3% of new cases.
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention has said in the past two months that people vaccinated can enter indoor public spaces without a mask. Amid an increase in cases, Los Angeles County has reinstated its indoor mask mandate in all public places for all individuals, regardless of vaccination status and at least 10 more counties in California, including the City of Berkeley strongly recommended that all residents wear indoor masks again.
“In areas where the number of people vaccinated is low, where cases are increasing, it is very reasonable for counties to take more mitigation measures, like the mask rules emanating from LA,” Murthy continued. “And I predict that will happen in other parts of the country – and that’s not at odds with guidelines issued by the CDC.”
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors chairman Hilda L. Solis told Raddatz in a separate interview on “This Week,” that the mask’s new mandate was not punishment for those vaccinated, but prevention. .
“We still have 4 million out of 10 million people who haven’t been vaccinated – and a lot of them are young people,” Solis told Raddatz. “And we are finding that this transmission is so highly contagious that it will cost more in the long run.”
Murthy stepped up support for the LA County decision as an acceptable mitigation approach based on field data. The county reported more than 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 per day last week.
Raddatz asked Murthy about the World Health Organization warning that the delta variant and three additional worrisome variants could prolong the pandemic and possibly lead to the emergence of more deadly strains of COVID-19.
“If we don’t get this under control now, what do you think the fall will look like?” Raddatz asked.
“I am deeply concerned,” Murthy replied. “We have made so much progress over the past year, but what worries me are those we still have – millions of people in our country who are not vaccinated.”
“We must always protect our children under 12 who do not have a vaccine available to them.” added Murthy. “Our children depend on the protection of those around them, on vaccination in order to protect them from the virus. And that is why, again, it is so important for us to get vaccinated.”
Raddatz also asked Murthy about his recent warning about disinformation about COVID-19 online and the president’s suggestion that platforms like Facebook are “killing people”.
“Facebook officials say to stop pointing fingers. They’ve already tried to get around 18 million misinformation about COVID. What should they do?” asked Raddatz.
“I have been deeply concerned about the flow of disinformation on technology platforms and throughout society over the past few months,” Murthy replied.
“I called for more transparency in terms of the data they need to share with independent researchers so that we can get a better idea of the amount of misinformation circulating on these sites and the strategies that are working to address it.” , he added.
“I also ask people across our country to stop and check your sources before posting any stories online,” concluded Murthy.
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