Dr. Anthony Fauci, American physician-scientist and immunologist who advises US President Joe Biden and leads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has blamed "ideological rigidity" for hampering vaccination efforts in the country.
“COVID-19 “doesn’t know whether you're a Democrat or Republican or an independent … and yet there’s this divide of people wanting to get vaccinated, or not wanting to get vaccinated, which is really unfortunate because it’s losing lives,” said Fauci on Appearing on CNN’s "State of the Union."
As the threat of more virulent COVID-19 variants, such as the Delta and Lambda, prompts experts to issue calls for boosting administering of jabs, slightly under half of all eligible Americans have received full vaccinations against the coronavirus.
Amid reportedly sufficient supplies of the vaccines, some states are displaying plummeting demand for the shots against the virus. Fauci has blamed politics for putting a spoke in the wheel of what he claimed to be an otherwise successful vaccination effort across the nation.
Croix Hill, 15, left Ava Kreutziger, 14 and Lilly Gorman, 15, wait to receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Ochsner Center for Primary Care and Wellness, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the Pfizer vaccine for use in teenagers ages 12 to 15 in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., May 13, 2021.
© REUTERS / KATHLEEN FLYNN
A majority of states and territories have already administered 75 percent or more of their first vaccine doses, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"I mean, it’s ideological rigidity. I think there's no reason not to get vaccinated. Why are we having red states and places in the South that are very highly ideological in one way, not wanting to get vaccinations – vaccinations have nothing to do with politics."
Fauci, who serves as both the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and as Biden's chief medical adviser, has repeatedly faulted political issues over the past year for obstructing combating the virus. The concerns come as a recent Gallup poll showed that one in five Americans do not intend to get vaccinated at all.
A’ Nasty Variant’
Meanwhile, the numbers of new COVID-19 cases surged again this week, with the US reporting an average of 16,000 new cases daily. In nine states, infections spiked by more than 50 percent, predominantly driven by the Delta variant.
Accounting for more than 51 percent of new cases nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health officials have been voicing particular concern over the new variant of the virus causing the respiratory disease.
The Delta variant, discovered first in the UK and India, respectively, is estimated to be around 40-60 percent more virulent. Nevertheless, medical experts have attempted to allay concerns by claiming the vaccines maintain over 90 percent efficacy against serious conditions or fatalities triggered by the virus.
The Lambda variant has become the dominant variant in Peru in a very short period of time, but is yet to be labeled a variant of concern. In appearances on three separate Sunday news shows, including ABC's “This Week,” Fauci warned of the Delta variant’s speed and level of transmission as he pleaded with Americans to get vaccinated.
“If you’re not vaccinated, you should be concerned… Delta “is a very nasty variant” of COVID-19, he said.
On "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Fauci slammed the fact that some Americans refuse to get the vaccine despite evidence proving its effectiveness as “very, very frustrating.”
Earlier this week, White House officials also urged unvaccinated individuals to get their jabs.
“The bottom line is there’s simply no reason that anyone 12 and older should be severely impacted by this virus,” White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters at a press briefing on Thursday.