Coronavirus pandemic
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Models predict U.S. coronavirus infections could surge this fall if vaccination rates lag, former FDA chief says

Scott Gottlieb also expressed concern about U.K. study showing brain-tissue shrinkage after covid-19

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June 20, 2021 at 2:01 p.m. EDT
Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb spoke June 20 about seeing the delta coronavirus variant in states with lower vaccination rates. (Video: Reuters)

The transmission of the more contagious delta variant in the United States could spur a fall surge in coronavirus infections if only 75 percent of the country’s eligible population is vaccinated, former Food and Drug Administration chief Scott Gottlieb said Sunday.

Although Gottlieb cited one projection forecasting an increase in infections reaching as high as 20 percent of last winter’s peak, he called that an “aggressive estimate,” saying he doesn’t “think it’ll be quite that dire.” But he said states with low vaccination rates already are showing a concerning rise in cases with the spreading of delta, which is up to 60 percent more contagious than earlier variants.