The Delta variant will cause ‘very dense outbreaks’ in these five states, expert says

June 28, 2021

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(CNN) The Delta variant, a strain of Covid-19 believed to be more transmissible and dangerous than others, is likely to break out in some US communities, a health expert told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“It’s not going to be as pervasive,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, said Sunday. “It’s going to hyper-regionalized. There’s certain pockets of the country where you’re going to have very dense outbreaks.”

Those pockets will be ones with low vaccination rates and low rates of prior infection, Gottlieb said, like in many rural and southern communities.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 46.1% of the total US population has been vaccinated against Covid-19. Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Wyoming are among the states with the lowest vaccination rates, with less than 35% of their population fully vaccinated.

The national figure is far from the 70 to 85% of the population experts including Dr. Anthony Fauci estimated would likely need to become immune through vaccine or prior infection to control the virus’ spread — and with vaccine rates declining, some officials worry the US will not get to that threshold.

To get ahead of a potential outbreak, Gottlieb recommended governors build up health care resources in vulnerable communities and leaders adopt a grassroots vaccination campaign for the fall.

The Delta variant will cause ‘very dense outbreaks’ in these five states, expert says

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