The World Health Organization on Friday urged fully vaccinated people to continue to wear masks, social distance and practice other Covid-19 pandemic safety measures as the highly contagious delta variant spreads rapidly across the globe.

“People cannot feel safe just because they had the two doses. They still need to protect themselves,” Dr. Mariangela Simao, WHO assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, said during a news briefing from the agency’s Geneva headquarters.

The health organization’s comments come as some countries, including the United States, have largely done away with masks and pandemic-related restrictions as the Covid vaccines have helped drive down the number of new infections and deaths.

The number of new infections in the U.S. has held steady over the last week at an average of 11,659 new cases per day, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Still, new infections have been plummeting over the last several months.

WHO officials said they are asking fully vaccinated people to continue to “play it safe” because a large portion of the world remains unvaccinated and highly contagious variants, like delta, are spreading in many countries, spurring outbreaks.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that about half of adults infected in an outbreak of the delta variant in Israel were fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, prompting the government there to reimpose an indoor mask requirement and other measures.

“Yes, you can reduce some measures and different countries have different recommendations in that regard. But there’s still the need for caution,” Dr. Bruce Aylward, a senior advisor to the WHO’s director-general, said at the briefing. “As we are seeing, there are new variants emerging.”

The WHO said last week that delta is becoming the dominant variant of the disease worldwide.

WHO officials have said the variant, first found in India but now in at least 92 countries, is the fastest and fittest coronavirus strain yet, and it will “pick off” the most vulnerable people, especially in places with low Covid vaccination rates.

They said there were reports that the delta variant also causes more severe symptoms, but that more research is needed to confirm those conclusions. Still, there are signs the delta strain could provoke different symptoms than other variants.

It has the potential “to be more lethal because it’s more efficient in the way it transmits between humans and it will eventually find those vulnerable individuals who will become severely ill, have to be hospitalized and potentially die,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies program, said Monday.

In the U.S., President Joe Biden said Covid deaths nationwide will continue to rise due to the spread of the “dangerous” delta variant, calling it a “serious concern.”

He warned that Americans who are still unvaccinated are especially at risk.

“Six hundred thousand-plus Americans have died, and with this delta variant you know there’s going to be others as well. You know it’s going to happen. We’ve got to get young people vaccinated,” Biden said Thursday at a community center in Raleigh, North Carolina

Gain of Function research paying dividends

SHOUT OUT JOEY BIDEN SHOUT OUT DR FAUCI

The covid deniers not gonna like this one

chances of a shutdown?

I know this variant has to be spreading in my area. F***ing Wegmans let's "vaxxed" people walk around mask-less, but there's literally not a single check to see if the people entering are actually vaccinated. You already know the people who just don't wanna wear one are doing exactly that.

Unlikely. In the US, anyways.

chinas numbers were fake once it was a problem.

Nah lol

Im finally getting my shots this week at Walgreens. Moderna 2 shot gang.

India f***ed around and had Covid 19 the worst last month that that f***ing mutated the strain. Goddamn

I don't mind wearing a mask, I just don't get why I would though. I assume I could shed the virus? I know if I'm vaccinated I could still get it though

“People cannot feel safe just because they had the two doses. They still need to protect themselves"

i don't think you've been outside doc......

I haven’t worse a mask in forever And at this point I’m never wearing one again idgaf about a second strain

This. Its hard to lockdown 330 million people in AMERICA.

Nigga I just copped these plane tickets a couple days ago and all this Delta Rona s*** popping up

But you giving it to other people. You suck.

Lemme cop them hoes off you

gotta stay masked up in closed spaces . even if there wasnt this new strain or whatever that s*** is just common courtesy

dunno why wouldnt wear a mask either way

I got the vaccine, I am now relieved of all duties of wearing masks ever again, otherwise I would of never got it

Expected

Don't really care about having to wear a mask anyway