Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Sunday said he is “worried about what is to come” in the COVID-19 pandemic as cases increase throughout the U.S., primarily among those who are not vaccinated.
“I am worried about what is to come because we are seeing increasing cases among the unvaccinated in particular. And while if you are vaccinated you are very well protected against hospitalization and death, unfortunately that is not true if you are not vaccinated,” Murthy told host Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The U.S. has seen an increase in COVID-19 infections in recent weeks, especially as the more contagious delta variant spreads rapidly throughout the country.
The new infections have mainly infiltrated unvaccinated areas. Murthy said 99.5 percent of the deaths from COVID-19 right now in the U.S. are individuals who are not inoculated.
Vaccination rates have also dropped throughout the country, as many in the vaccine-hesitant population are still refusing to get inoculated.
The surgeon general said it is important that the Biden administration takes “every measure possible to make sure people have the information they need about the vaccine, to make sure they have access to the vaccine and to help them get vaccinated as quickly as possible.”
“It is our fastest, most effective way out of this pandemic,” Murthy added.