The US is seeing a pandemic of the unvaccinated as COVID cases increase in 49 states

By Bloomberg News July 17, 2021 â€" 5.18am

With cases swelling in 49 states and hospitalisations on the rise, the US is seeing a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” in parts of the country where inoculation rates are low, the head of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The governor of Louisiana, one of the least-vaccinated states, said it was time to “run, not walk” to get a shot.

US President Joe Biden signalled progress toward lifting a ban on travel from Europe, raising hopes for a reopening of the almost $40 billion North Atlantic-air corridor 16 months after the pandemic grounded flights.

With deaths and hospitalisations from Covid-19 on the rise, the US is seeing a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” in parts of the country where inoculation rates are low, the head of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Governor John Bel Edwards said Louisiana, which has one of the lowest rates of vaccination in the US, was in a “fourth surge.”

“Our hospitals are again stretched thin with limited staff capacity, and the vast majority of COVID patients are not yet fully vaccinated against the illness,” the Democratic governor said in a statement.

In Louisiana, only 39.5% of the population having received at least one dose compared with the national average of 55.8%, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker. Only Alabama and Mississippi are lower.

The fast-spreading Delta variant has accounted for 41% of New Jersey cases in the past four weeks, state data show. Almost 5 million residents, more than half the state’s population, has been fully vaccinated.

New infections increased in every US state except Michigan during the week, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Florida led increases among “high transmission” states with a 109% jump, followed by Arkansas, Nevada and Missouri.

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