Rachel FrittsIn many U.S. regions, the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has caused the COVID-19 pandemic to surge once again. Last week’s 7-day average of daily new cases increased by nearly 70%, to more than 26,000; hospitalizations have jumped by more than one-third, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Part of the reason is that less than half of the U.S.
population is fully vaccinated. Some scientists and physicians worry vaccine hesitancy is fueled by the fact that shots available in the United States—made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson (J&J)—have been authorized on an emergency basis but have yet to be fully approved.