Surgeon General issues grim warning on Indian Delta variant, saying: 'If you are not vaccinated, you are in trouble,' and claims a future COVID strain could BEAT vaccines

America's Surgeon General has issued a grim warning on the COVID Indian Delta variant, saying: 'If you are not vaccinated, you're in trouble.'

Dr Vivek Murthy pulled no punches while chatting with CNN host Erica Hill on Wednesday morning, and even raised the specter of a future strain of COVID that could beat all vaccines currently available to tackle it. 

Asked about the latest variant, which is the most transmissible strain of COVID so far discovered, Murthy told Hill: 'The good news is that if you're vaccinated, and fully vaccinated, that means two weeks after your last shot, then there is good evidence that you have a high degree of protection against this virus.

'But if you are not vaccinated then you are in trouble. This is a serious threat and we're seeing it spread among unvaccinated people.'

Murthy added: 'If you are fully vaccinated your chances of getting sick and transmitting the infection is low. 

'The key message from Delta is get vaccinated. its the best way to protect yourself from this variant and other variants you've seen before.'

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, right, told CNN host Erica Hill, left, that anyone who has not had their COVID vaccine is 'in trouble' because of the Indian Delta variant

Murthy told Hill that cases in new COVID hot spots - pictured in orange and red - are being driven by the Delta variant 

The medic went on to say that fully vaccinated people are 'quite protected' from COVID, then added: 'Nothing is 100 per cent though.'

He continued: 'We cant guarantee that that will always be the case with new variants that arise down the line. That is why we must work so hard to crush the virus here and abroad.'

Murthy was speaking after Los Angeles County urged locals to start wearing masks again indoors, even if fully vaccinated.

The California county has stopped short of re-imposing a mandatory mask mandate, after Golden State Governor Gavin Newsom lifted almost all COVID restrictions on June 15. 

An LA County Department of Health spokesman said: 'Public Health strongly recommends people wear masks indoors in settings such as grocery or retail stores; theaters and family entertainment centers, and workplaces when you don't know everyone's vaccination status.

'Until we better understand how and to who the Delta variant is spreading, everyone should focus on maximum protection with minimum interruption to routine as all businesses operate without other restrictions, like physical distancing and capacity limits.' 

White House COVID tsar Dr Anthony Fauci says the Delta variant, so called because it was first spotted in the Indian Ganges Delta region, is now estimated to make up 20 per cent of all newly-diagnosed cases in the US.

“I am worried that what we are seeing in terms of a plateauing of cases nationally — but also an increase in cases in many small sections of the United States — that that is, in fact, being driven by the Delta variant,” US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says. pic.twitter.com/XSSoiI4dXx

— CNN (@CNN) June 30, 2021

“I am worried that what we are seeing in terms of a plateauing of cases nationally — but also an increase in cases in many small sections of the United States — that that is, in fact, being driven by the Delta variant,” US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says. pic.twitter.com/XSSoiI4dXx

Diners mask up to visit Grand Central Market in Los Angeles. LA County has urged people to mask up again indoors amid a spike in COVID cases blamed on unvaccinated locals 

It became the dominant strain in the UK earlier this summer - accounting for 90 per cent of all cases - despite Great Britain's highly successful vaccination program.

Deaths in the UK have remained low even as diagnoses rocket again.

That has sparked hopes vaccines have finally broken the link between COVID infections and serious illnesses or deaths, by offering protection from the worst effects of the virus. 

President Biden is believed to have been planning a symbolic July 4 'Independence Day' speech to declare the United States free of the virus.

But he is now expected to miss his target of having 70 per cent of the adult population jabbed by then.

The White House predicts that at least 70 per cent of Americans aged 27 and up will have had their vaccine by Sunday's nationwide holiday. 

Shots are currently available to everyone aged 12 and over, with trials ongoing to see if they are also safe for younger children.  

Vaccine hesitancy has been blamed on fears over the jabs' safety, amid evidence showing that Pfizer and Moderna's shots can cause heart inflammation.

Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson's vaccine has been linked to blood clots, as as the AstraZeneca shot, which has yet to be approved for use in the US.

Scientists say such instances are extremely rare - and the chances of falling seriously-ill as a result are rarer still. 

Almost 42,000 more Americans could die if half of all unvaccinated adults contract Indian 'Delta' Covid variant - but just 15% of them say they're planning on getting the shot   

At least 42,000 more Americans could die of COVID-19 if half of all unvaccinated individuals contract the Indian ‘Delta’ variant.

As of Wednesday, 66.3 percent of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of the jab, meaning around 70 million people still have not, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

The variant currently makes up 26.1 percent of cases in the country and has also wreaked havoc across the UK, accounting for 99 percent of all new infections.

In the UK, of the more than 92,000 people who have contracted the Delta variant, 53,822 were unvaccinated, per data from Public Health England. 

Of the unvaccinated group, 67 people died, a death rate of 0.12 percent.

If just half of unvaccinated American adults - over 35.3 million people  - were to contract the variant, and die at the same rate, then that would be 42,300 U.S. deaths from the variant, a DailyMail.com analysis found.

It comes a new poll found that most unvaccinated Americans are unmoved by the variant's existence with just 15 percent reporting that the Delta variant's existence makes them more likely to get the shots

Nearly 75% of Americans believe the Delta variant, which originated in India, poses a serious risk to unvaccinated or all Americans

The majority of Americans believe the Delta variant poses a risk to the country, but those most likely to be effected by it are largely unmoved.

In a new survey, conducted by Yahoo News/YouGov, 72 percent overall they believe the strain was dangerous.

Specifically, 27 percent of Americans said they believe the Delta variant poses a threat to all Americans, and 45 percent believe it does so only to unvaccinated Americans. 

However, those have not received their COVID-19 do not seem to mind the perceived threat of the variant.

Only 15 percent of unvaccinated Americans reported that the Delta variant's existence makes them more likely to get the shots with around 10 percent saying that they are less likely to get vaccinated. 

The Delta variant is a more contagious strain of the virus that was first identified in India.

It is believed to be at least 40 percent contagious than other strains of the virus and recent study found it doubles the risk of hospitalization. 

The variant is largely responsible for the massive swell in COVID-19 cases that ravaged India this past spring and has caused infection in the UK to spike by 75 percent in just one week.

The Delta variant originated in India, and cause a massive outbreak in the Spring before many in the country had access to the vaccines

In the UK, officials recorded more than 20,000 for the third day in a row 

There were 26,068 infections on Wednesday - the highest daily total since January 24, when there were 30,004 cases -  increasing 61.6 per cent in seven days from 16,135. 

This is a 1,200 percent increase from 2,000 cases recorded in late April, when the Delta variant first took hold.      

However, deaths remained low with 14 were recorded on Wednesday, which is down 26 percent from the 19 recorded last Wednesday.

It has since made it's way across the globe, and into the United States.

At least 41 American states have experienced at least one case of the virus, according to the CDC.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said last week that he predicts the variant will become the dominant strain in the U.S. in the coming weeks.  

Many unvaccinated Americans are also in certain pockets on the U.S. particularly in the U.S. south and the northwestern plains.

In the south, Mississippi has the lowest percentage of its population at least partially vaccinated at 36 percent.

Nearby Louisiana (38 percent of population at least partially vaccinated), Alabama (40), Tennessee (42), Arkansas (42), and Georgia (43) have struggled to get their residents jabbed as well.

First Lady Jill Biden visited Mississippi and Tennessee last week, promoting the vaccine and hoping to sway the state's unvaccinated populations to receive the shots.  

Northwestern states like Wyoming (39), Idaho (39) and North Dakota (44) find themselves struggling as well.

For comparison, 54 percent of American adults nationwide have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, and northeastern states like Vermont (74), Massachusetts (70) and Connecticut (67) are even approaching herd immunity.   

Dr Fauci warned that the U.S. may soon be divided into 'two Americas' as the disparity grows between vaccinated and unvaccinated regions and the Indian 'Delta' variant continues to spread.

In an appearance on CNN's Don Lemon on Tuesday night, he said he is 'very concerned about' seeing the country split in two - one half where the majority of residents are vaccinated against COVID-19 and the other half where they are not immunized, leading to a rise in cases.

'When you have such a low level of vaccination superimposed upon a variant that has a high degree of efficiency of spread, what you are going to see among under-vaccinated regions, be that states, cities or counties, you're going to see these individual types of blips,' Fauci said. 

'It's almost like it's going to be two Americas.'   

An Associated Press analysis of available government data from May shows that 'breakthrough' infections in fully vaccinated people accounted for fewer than 1,200 of more than 853,00 hospitalizations.

What's more, only about 150 of the more than 18,000 COVID-19 deaths in May were in fully vaccinated people, which translates to about 0.8 percent, or five deaths per day on average.

The data shows the value of the COVID-19 vaccine and are an indication that deaths per day - now averaging 300 per day - could be practically zero if everyone eligible was immunized.

'Nearly every death, especially among adults, due to COVID-19, is, at this point, entirely preventable,' said CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky said at a press briefing last week. 

States in the U.S. south and the great plains have much lower vaccination rates than their peers, leaving them especially vulnerable to the Delta variant

Currently, it is believed that breakthrough infections account for under 0.1 percent of new COVID cases.

Breakthrough cases are often less severe, though, as antibodies supplied by the vaccine help combat the worst effects of the virus.

Cases and deaths in the United States have plummeted in recent months, as more and more Americans get vaccinated.

The nation is recording about 80,000 new cases a week at the moment, a large drop from the peak of the pandemic in January, where more than 1.75 million cases were recorded in a week.

The U.S. also has not recorded more than 1,000 deaths in a single day in more than three months.