BIDEN URGES VACCINATIONS AS U.S. SEES SURGE IN COVID CASES

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden urged Americans to get vaccinated on Saturday even as US had its worst Covid week in three months, as weekly cases surged fourfold to 347,784 from a month earlier with the spread of the Delta variant.

“Folks the Delta variant is no joke. Please protect yourself and your loved ones – get vaccinated,” Biden said in a tweet.

Florida made up about one in five cases as the number of infections rose to 73,199 from 45,584 for the week ending on Thursday, after almost doubling in the previous seven days. Along with Texas and Missouri, the three states accounted for 40% of cases this week.

Texas hospitals have started to run low on beds for the sickest virus patients as caseloads climb. Texas recorded more than 5,000 new virus cases in the past 24 hours, state data showed.

Meanwhile, US government health officials increasingly think vulnerable people will need Covid-19 vaccine booster shots, the New York Times reported, without saying where it got the information.

People who are 65 and older or who have issues with their immune systems most likely will require a third shot of the Pfizerbiontech or Moderna vaccine, according to the newspaper.

More than 50 people were arrested and being charged with offences after anti-lockdown protesters clashed with police in Sydney, Australia, while Vietnam announced a 15-day lockdown in the capital Hanoi starting on Saturday as coronavirus infections surged.