We have to do something dramatic to protect the US against Covid-19, expert says

“We’re seeing this because the public misunderstood the CDC guidance for fully vaccinated people as ‘We can now do whatever we want. Even if we are unvaccinated, we can now behave as if we are vaccinated,'” CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Thursday.

Covid-19 cases are surging in nearly every state with the average of new cases at least 10% higher than a week ago — and 38 states are seeing at least a 50% increase, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Many experts have attributed the rise to slowing vaccination rates with only 48.3% of the US population fully vaccinated, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Arkansas, where only 35.1% of the population is fully vaccinated, the Delta variant has had a big impact, Chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Cam Patterson said, adding hospitals are “full right now and cases are doubling every 10 days.”

In Missouri, one local health department has asked the state to fund staffing and a location for a Covid-19 care site to handle to rise in severe cases, according to a statement from the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.

There is still hope for avoiding a fall spike, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said, if enough people get vaccinated. But, if the trend in rising cases continues, cities and states could implement travel restrictions for unvaccinated travelers, she told ABC’s Good Morning America.

“I think now is our moment to really double down on our vaccination efforts and our other prevention interventions,” she said. “We still have to send the same messages as we did last year,” Walensky said.

In an interview on NBC Nightly News, Walensky said that with case rates rising, vaccination rates declining and the Delta variant spreading, things could continue to get worse in the pandemic.

In California, Los Angeles County — the nation’s largest county with a population of 10 million people — has responded to a surge in cases and hospitalizations by reinstating a mask mandate beginning Saturday.

“Right now is the time for locales to follow LA county’s lead,” Wen said.

A patient arrives at the Jordan Valley Community Health Center in Springfield, Missouri, on July 12, 2021

Colleges and universities requiring vaccinations

Some businesses and hospitals have already required their employees to be vaccinated, and now some universities are implementing requirements as well.

Rhode Island has become the first state where all public and private colleges and universities require their students to be fully vaccinated before returning to campus this fall, Governor Dan McKee announced this week.

Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, Rhode Island’s director of health, said in the state’s news release that vaccinations are “key” to having a successful academic year.

“We cannot let our guard down now,” Scott said. “The Delta variant is now circulating in parts of the country where many of our students live. The good news is that the vaccines provide protection against this variant. Anyone who has not been vaccinated should get vaccinated today.”

Young children will pay the price if enough US adults don't get vaccinated against Covid-19, expert says

And the University of California, the nation’s largest public university system, said it plans to mandate that all students, faculty and staff be fully vaccinated before returning to…