eight in ten contain the delta variant. in recent days, i have seen new scientific data from recent outbreak investigations showing that the delta variant behaves uniquely differently from past strains of the virus that cause covid-19. information on the delta variant from several states and other countries indicates that in rare occasions, some vaccinated people infected with the delta variant after vaccination may be contagious and spread the virus to others. this new science is worrysome and warrants an update to our recommendation. first, we continue to strongly encourage everyone to get vaccinated. getting vaccinated continues reduce spread of virus in our community. vaccinated individuals continue to represent a very small amount of transmission occurring around the country. continue to estimate that breakthrough of infection with symptoms upon exposure is reduced by seven fold. reduction is 20 fold for optizations and deaths. and cdc recommended four months unvaccinated individuals should get vaccinated and continue

what is your sense of the delta variant? >> well, i certainly would not count on this burning itself out and the difference is because unlike the uk, now in the south where vaccination rates are the lowest, school in-person classrooms are about to open ook across the south. we start earlier down here. and some parishes in louisiana for instance, they are starting august 9. so unfortunately, it is happening at a very difficult time where only about 17% of the adolescents, 15% of the adolescent s have vaccinated in many parts of the south. 30%, 40% of the young adults, refusal of mask mandates and this delta variant is accelerating. so i'm holding my breath. i'm worried about what will happen in the south. having said that, in-that it is important to point out that the sky is not falling.is important to point out that the sky is not falling. when those vaccines were release the emergency use last year, they were released because they halted symptomatic illness and departments out of the hospital and the ic uflt. it was only la

we have to stay vigilant especially with the delta variant. all the covid deaths are from unvaccinated people. the safest thing to do is to get vaccinated. get vaccinated. >> and more bad news the virus is also surging again in japan. today, the head of the tokyo olympics organizing committee, the ceos suggested the games could still be canceled, despite the fact that the opening ceremony is just days away. so far, over 70 people affiliated in some way with these olympic games have tested positive. on the domestic political front, the first hearing for the house select committee investigating the january 6th insurrection, exactly one week away. this afternoon the government released more body camera footage from the desecration of the capital building. latest video shows vicious attacks on officers as they try to protect the stage on which joe biden would be inaugurated just weeks later. tonight though, members of congress or focus on other matters. the senate is now hours away from a test votes on whether to move forward with a trillion dolla

the surge in delta is already here. just today the cdc announced the delta variant is now 51% of all covid strains. it is now dominant in the united states and is only going to get worse. >> doctor, the cdc also announced today that, you know, not only with have this new delta variant coming through but obviously it seems to be breaking through slightly better with pfizer than some of the other vaccines. i want to clear this up. this sort of thing can lead to vaccine hesitancy, people say they don't want to, is there a real difference in one vaccine than another. it's not crazy for people to think about. if you still haven't got vaccinated would you say it doesn't matter if you get pfizer, moderna or johnson & johnson or are they all equally safe protecting someone against the delta variant. >> we don't have enough data on johnson & johnson, we don't have real efficacy data. best data is on pfizer and astrazeneca vaccine which we don't have in the u.s. but pfizer and moderna are both really good vaccines and the vaccine

this delta variant is possibly throwing things off. given the seriousness which with the white house has treated the matter since day one, what are they doing now? >> they're still talking about it and still doing the public relation boater education, trying to work specifically in local communities. we are at this totally different point. on the one hand unimaginable before, anyone who wants a vaccine can get a vaccine. i mean, that would've been great news just a few months ago, and now they're grappling with the fact that a lot of people don't want to get vaccine. they're gripping into the research and figuring out if it's an issue with young people who need more education, rumors they need to dispel. they're coming against the reality that some people are just not going to get vaccinated for whatever reason, they are uncomfortable with it and it is especially in those communities where the delta variant can grow out of control. and other variants can emerge. they keep on stressing this but there is a portion of the population that

critical new information about the delta variant of the coronavirus. the paper has obtained an internal cdc document which contains urgent new warnings about the virus. "the post" reports, quote, the delta variant of the coronavirus appears to cause more severe illness than earlier variants and spreads as easily as chicken pox. according to the internal federal health document, it also argues officials must acknowledge the war has changed. "the post" goes on to report, quote, it cites a combination of recently obtained, still-unpublished data from outbreak investigations and outside studies showing that vaccinated individuals infected with delta may be able to transmit the virus as easily as those who are unvaccinated. vaccinated people infected with delta have measurable viral loads similar to those who are unvaccinated and infected with the variant. this afternoon, president biden took a much more aggressive stance in facing the escalating covid virus and resistance to vaccines. >> this is an american tragedy. people will die who don't have to die. i

the white house, of course, is nervously watching the delta variant. and there has been discussions, we and other places have reported this week, about the mask mandate. now, white house officials categorize these are very preliminary, certainly very routine, of course we heard from jen psaki today, you would be concerned if they weren't talking about these sort of things. that's what she says, these meetings are exhaustive and go through every option. so far certainly no national guidance about masks. that would come from the cdc. the white house says they're not involved and the cdc has not shift what had they think people who are vaccinated should do in terms of masks they're not requiring that. we're seeing local jurisdictions like los angeles county do so. so the white house is watching these numbers. and they're not ruling anything out, of course. and they're trying right now, they're saying the solution wear the masks, of course, vaccines and doing everything they can to get the vaccines into shots of arms people who have been reluctant to take

delta is now on track to be the most dominant strain in the u.s. what do you want to hear from the president today. what areas do you think the administration can take helpful action? >> i think what you are seeing is that strain or trend develop that we were worried about which is that with the variant i'll talk about the israel study in a second but with the protection of hospitalizations and deaths and it really is the unvaccinated. 99% of the deaths from covid-19 are among unvaccinated people in this country so the areas that shannon talked about with under overall vaccination and the one thing i think -- i hope we don't miss is pockets of unvaccinated people within highly vaccinated states. the report coming out of l.a. county of increased hospitalizations in young patients particularly black and hispanic patients and the concern here is we saw this -- my concern is of the last year we saw communities of color getting affected because many of the people affected were front line essential workers. if you have pockets and l.a. county for example

it is the delta variant in unvaccinated clusters. for example, here in new york city the delta variant is the dominant variant right now, and even though tourism is back up there are a ton of people out in times square behind me, restaurants are back, even a broad way show is back. new york hasn't seen an increase in cases. state officials say that's because we have a high vaccination rate here in the state, about three-quarters of all adults have gotten at least one shot. even though the dominant strain is delta both here in new york city, also in new jersey, it is not driving the cases. new york right now reporting still record low number of -- seven-day rolling average cases. that's not the case around the country. we just talked about the south, the plains right now. so the states that we're seeing this are also the states that have the lowest vaccination rates. these are the ones that are experiencing increases in their 14-day totals. i will go through some of them. alabama, mississippi, arkansas, louisiana, tennessee. they're a

right now delta is surging through the country. the map shows in red all the states experiencing case increases of 100% or more over the last two weeks. only 12 states, 12 of the 50 are not highlighted. the delta variant is responsible for most of these infections. joining me now is the virologist and immunologist dr. rick bright. we have known and know that people uninfected are getting the delta variant. that's the predominant variant in the united states and many other places at this point. the new news is how susceptible that those who are vaccinated are to this variant and possibly needs to mask up. you were in the u.s. government when these things were going back and forth and there was arguments about what you're supposed to tell the public. now we are stuck with the cdc with a bit of a messaging problem. what is going on now and what should we believe? >> thanks for having me once again. good to see you. it is painful to watch the delay in the messaging coming out to the american public and people around the world. we have

this country are from the delta variant. some regions of the country is over 90%. rather than dealing with a much less formidable virus, most of the time you are being confront with the delta variant which puts you at considerable risk. >> i hope people are listening and it is important distinction you are drawing. people are thinking of covid from six months ago,you are telling people scientifically of the current risk of delta variant. as for the public health's messaging and communication challenge, we all understand why people like you and leaders in the government want to stress the benefits of system of this. on the other hand, there is still a duty to be accurate and some folks at the white house have been accused of down playing these so-called breakthrough cases. here is secretary jen psaki. >> there will be break through cases. >> another reminder of the efficacy of the vaccine. we wish our colleagues a speedty recovery. >> are you at all concerned of the potential down playing of break through cases, doc? >> i lis

meanwhile, there is new evidence that the spread of delta, the delta variant and the rise in cases and hospitalizations and deaths may itself be spurring more people to get vaccinated. yesterday half a million americans got their first vaccine shot. that's the highest daily number in all of july. and the states with the highest case rates have seen an uptick in their vaccination rates in the past week. but vaccines are still not getting into arms fast enough. today for the first time the european union pulled ahead of the united states in its vaccination numbers. europe has now gotten doses to a higher percentage of its population than america has, which is remarkable when you consider that the united states has had way more vaccine doses for way longer than the european union. but here we are. with the world health organization reporting that the united states had the highest number of new covid cases in the world last week. and now new worrying news breaking just tonight. the "washington post" has obtained an internal cdc document that says the delta variant of covid-19 not only spre

quite a risky experiment there in the middle of the horrific delta wave. we're seeing with a rapid vaccine rollout, is about 68% have had double jabs. but there is relief between the infections and we believe that we're heading in the right direction, no people want to get back to his normal life as possible. but we also know that this is something that we're going to

♪ >>> pfizer's second boost is designed to fight the delta variant. a third vaccine dose would be needed within 12 months of vaccination. the delta variant is the dominant strain in u.s. joining me now is dr. patel, she also works on health policy at the obama white house, dr. patel, thank you so much. i have a lot of questions. if somebody sends me a letter in the mail and says hey, you may want to bring your card back in. it sounds like a factory recall to me. the fact that pfizer came out with this announcement, come get a third dose, is that a sign of concern, if i had been vaccinated by pfizer, does it mean it is weaker than moderna or johnson & johnson. >> it is just a way to prevent any concerns about future variants as well as the delta variant escaping our immunity. the current vaccine, all three of them holdup against the delta variant for hospitalizations and deaths. the concern has been overtime that immunity will decrease. we need to see the details, i need to see the data, pfizer reported that they can boost the antibody response with th

their assessment of how serious the delta variant was. we got an indication of that on tuesday when they announced the updated mask guidance but they hadn't released the data they were talking about that convinced them to do this and they concluded it was likely more severe than previous strains of the virus, that they had to acknowledge that the war has changed, and they -- and that they feel the need to revamp their public health messaging and their communications in light of the delta variant and that they have to acknowledge to people that break through infections may not be as rare as they've indicated so far. but still also stress how effective the vaccines are and that they're still doing their jobs. >> yeah, but a lot of people are wondering, scratching their heads, at exactly what the cdc is doing. you get a sense yasmeen they're playing catch-up with messaging, some republicans are pouncing on the change in mask guidance. >> it's been a constant struggle for the cdc from the start of this pandemic to get its messaging right, to

what -- were bus production against the delta variant. both keeping you out of hospital and preventing transmission. everyone here who got the j&j one shot should have the chance to get a second dose. >> i was gonna ask you about the pfizer discussion, their emergency organ -- booster shot. some suggest that this is gonna cause a lot of people to think that they need a booster shot of this thing and there seems to be an overlap of discussion about you'll need a booster shot because of the amount of time that's been buys since you've got your and michelle pfizer shot. after the fact that this will be a better, more effective against the delta variant. can you tell me what i'm supposed to glean from this pfizer announcement? >> well let me put it in pushing personal terms. if you know someone, if you have a loved one who's of 65 a years older, or who is a -- they are the in division was her first in line for the booster shot. we suspected that these are the people who would -- that's natural, there's no surprise. there was a mistake was whe

is the delta variant putting a damper on that? and how is the white house planning to respond to it. >> i think you said it quite well. think about where we were a year ago in the heat of the campaign for then candidate joe biden. they were conscious and overly critical of the trump white house where the messaging was at odds with what scientists were saying with what we should be doing in terms of taking precautions. where we started the month of july was the white house trying to celebrate the fact that as the slogan went america was coming back together. well we don't hear that kind of messaging any more. but they are seeming to want to be add odds in terms of going back wards from where they were as they pressed forward with their other agenda at this point. the white house is walking a fineline here, too. the message that i'm getting is a lot of this, they think, is being driven by a concern for cases. and the concern is that there is not the data just yet to support that this is a widespread problem. the biggest issue, and j

delta is the way to stop the deadly path of -- vaccination is the way to stop the deadly path of delta, but far too many people are unvaccinated. because it takes two doses, then a couple of weeks after that, the sooner more people get vaccinated, the safer they will be, the less spread of delta we'll have, and the less risk we will have of interrupting reopening, including the critically important issue of getting our kid back to school in person in the fall. >> but when you have these numbers, 88% of the pfizer vaccine in fact efficacy against the delta variant, what is behind the breakthrough cases? >> well, no vaccine is 100%. they're remarkably effective but nothing is perfect. what it is really effective at doing is preventing very severe illness and death. so with 162 million vaccinated people, there will inevitably some vaccinated people who get illness, a small number who get severely ill, and tragically a few people who may die from it. what we need to learn in the coming weeks are the basic details about who is getting breakthrough infections and are there some people, for e

back to florida and the raging cases of the delta variant. there's so many pockets of unvaccinated communities. florida is a microcausim of that. there is places that have a rate at 20 or 25%. higher than where you would like it to be. and the age demographics, 83% of them have received at least one dose of the vaccine. the numbers go to 38%. and just 31% for those in their 20s that received at least one dose of the vaccine. there is a mentality among young people they don't need to worry about it. but what they don't realize is they can get other people sick and young people themselves are also getting sick. all of the factors are working in combination and it is important to keep that in mind. >>. >> let's talk about the covid vaccine booster shots. sheer part of what dr. fauci said. >> the official recommending organization. so although they do good work, we will look over their data. their responsibility is to make an official recommendation based on data and a pharmaceutical, as good as they are, who look at their product and say hey, yo

a booster for delta. that news was not well received by some scientists including dr. fauci who said hold on, wait for the cdc and fda to say whether we need it. what is your position on the booster? do we need this or pfizer trying to make more noise and make more money? >> will is a koshgs for those that are compromised. what we're seeing is that even those that are fully vaccinated may benefit from a third dose of a covid-19 vaccine. so that's a separate conversation. for the general public, there is no need for a booster shot given that the vaccines, all three of them, pfizer, moderna and j&j are holding up have he with will for all the var yants. similarly, maybe down the road we see peoplely immunity waning over time and the variants are threatening vaccine induced immunity. it's too early to say we need a booster for the general population. >> and last quick question. in l.a. county they talked about bringing back masks even indoors for vaccinated people and in mississippi they talk belderly people, even vaccinated avoiding indoor gatherings. at what point do we

a little lower against delta variant. but we have to remember every variant is going to react differently. we have a beta variant, gamma variant, i heard about eppslen variant in california. we're not 100% sure where they fit against the vaccinas >> the beta variant is the most immune evading. but even then the vaccines protect against hospitalizations and death. we will see new variants emerge particularly if we allow the virus to spread. every time the virus spreads from one person to another it replicates and mutates. we will see other variants. we need to stay ahead of this. and the best way to do that is to vaccinate everybody as quickly as possible >> what needs -- what's your sense of how this unfolds? i know that's a hard question to ask. but we're 18 months into this and it looked like things were getting better. can we get a handle on this quickly or is there no solution other than some people masking up and more people getting vaccinated? >> it really comes down to us and how quickly we can vaccinate people. i

especially to these new variants like the delta variant. especially those who are unvaccinated or who have weakened immune systems. >> this adds a layer to the idea that you should get vaccinated to save your life. you know, a lot of people say this is a private choice, it's your freedom to choose that. it is worth people understanding that your refusal to get vaccinated now does actually potentially put other people at risk. >> it absolutely does. when you get vaccinated, not only are you protecting yourself and your family but those around you who are unvaccinated -- remember, many of the unvaccinated in our country are children under 12 years of age. those who cannot get vaccinated for whatever reason or the vaccine does not respond well in these immunocompromised. when you vaccinate yourself, you reduce the chance of that virus mutating into a more lethal variant beyond a delta. so there's a lot that you do for yourself as well as your community and those around you when you get vaccinated. >> you just heard me talking about the number

we're >> also learning that an explosive delta variant outbreak in province town, massachusetts push the cdc to change mask recommendations for people who have be three quartes of those infected in that outbreak were fully vaccinated. but thankfully, fuel required hospitalization. the data also suggested vaccinated people could spread the virus. >> the data that we saw in massachusetts work or operated in numerous other places and that's why we knew we had to take action. >> meanwhile more businesses are announcing mandates. broadway's theater and operators says audiences must be vaccinated and wearing masks to attend performances when they resume in the fall. vaccines will be mandatory for walmart employees and its headquarters. and disney says all salaried and employees will be required to receive a covid-19 vaccine. meanwhile, florida's governor is pushing back on mandates for masks in schools. he has signed an executive order that effectively banned schools districts from enacting mask requirements. and there's also major news tonight about donald trump's efforts to subvert the 2

the superintendent and i are concerned about the delta variant. we are hearing stories out of england that it is ripping through schools over there and we're concerned about that when it comes to the fall. >> reporter: and, you know, yasmin to your point about how these kids are doing, even though most of these kaszs the kids are being monitored and they have mild symptoms, there are still a few cases where the symptoms are more severe and there have been in very rare circumstances deaths reported. we can understand the added urgency and concern with the delta variant. does that mean that in-person learning will have to be rolled back? well, according to the aap, their latest guidance says the benefits of in-person school outweigh the risks in almost all circumstances slojs mask wearing is prioritized, as long asprioid and as long as vaccine is taken by the groups those that can, those 12 and up. >> glad to hear the kids are doing okay so far. cori coffman in new york. thank you. >>> coming up, we will dig more into the conversation surrounding co

delta is just a new ball game. it is more easily caught. it is possibly more harmful. and whereas the pandemic hit the coasts first, the delta seems to be spreading sort of in the heartland and it's a new situation and may -- they're begging people to take these vaccines, the fear is that july 4th, where president biden wants it to be a celebration, in some ways he's been the only ones pumping the brakes on the national level warning about the pandemic, republican leaders eager to move on from the pandemic. now biden is pumping the brakes less so. the fear not only leading up to july 4th but this weekend could spur a new spike in cases. the message from public health officials we talk to on this is we're not out of this, please get vaccinated. that's the best thing you can do. i was on the road this week speaking in trump country if you will, speaking about the vaccines there. a lot of folks say even donald trump who they love, would not be able to convince them to get it. one also made a point of telling me if it came down to trump or ron desantis vefld a hard time in

we know the dangerous new delta variant is spreading quickly. meantime, back in washington as the investigation into the january 6th attack on the capitol shaeting up, so are tensions between democrats and republicans. this morning congresswoman debbie dingell blasting kevin mccarthy and other members of the gop for their lack of action. >> it's like they've got amnesia. this was one of the worst days in our country's history. it was an attack on our democracy. it should be a bipartisan commission. it should be totally objective. people won't agree to it. we can't get amnesia about the pictures you're throwing right now. our lives were threatened. people came to the hill to kill us. >> let's go beyond the headlines with a trio of reporters. mike memoli is traveling with the president in michigan, amanda golden is at the capitol and scott mcfarland joins us from washington. we're going to start in tra ver city, michigan. the president is expected in the next few minutes. we see quite the picturesque scene behind you with a ferrous ferris wheel. w

so here is how i would approach delta for anybody kind of watching and wondering what to do. you really should -- the reason we're wearing a mask is really because of that kind of data from provincetown and other communities where we could transmit this much more easily than we thought if we were vaccinated to other people. with half of the country unvaccinated, we don't know who is unvaccinated, and that's why we're all, you know, talking about wearing masks. i think the most responsible thing to do is remember vaccines prevent severe disease and death, and they're working, but delta has changed the game and raised everyone's emotions including mine about how we should take precautions. it also raised awareness as you mentioned the governors preventing schools from protecting children and staff when we know very well that masks on children and in indoor settings are absolutely required to keep everyone safe including the staff, and they should be mask as well even if they're vaccinated. kids can transmit this. >> the great divide, i can feel the temperature going up with a l

now the highly transmissable delta variant is surging across the u.s. how should this affect restrictions for those who are still unvaccinate. let's put that to dr. redlener. he's an msnbc public health analyst. doctor, welcome. good to talk to you again. >> good to talk to you, joshua. glad to be here. >> let's start with that particular issue. luciana asked us on tiktok what vaccinated parents should know about keeping unvaccinated kids under 12 safe now that they are back to work and school. doctor? >> right, joshua. the other factor, as you just mentioned, that we have a raging situation with the delta variant of the virus out there as well. we don't know yet exactly how that may or may not affect school-age children, especially those who are unvaccinated. and i say as a general rule and still a lot of controversy about this, parents should try to get their kids vaccinated as soon as possible. but in the meantime schools in my opinion should be mandating vaccines for every teacher and every adult worker in every school. they should still maintain so

the delta variant largely to blame. the cdc warning the vaccinated people can carry the virus as much as those who didn't get the shot. >> none of this information is what we want to hear. and the war against the pandemic has changed. nbc's miguel almaguer kicks off our coverage with this report. >> reporter: as americans face infection and hospitalization at a staggering rate, new findings from the cdc say the kwar has changed in the battle against covid. new data likes the delta variant to the chicken pox as the virus leaps person to person. it's more contagious than the common cold. likely triggering more severe disease than previously known, the delta strain is also infecting the vaccinated at higher rates as they carry similar viral loads in their nose and throat as the unvaccinated. and while they, too, may easily spread the virus, the inoculated are rarely hospitalized. >> the message is not that the vaccines aren't working. the message is not enough people are getting them. the efficacy of the vaccine that isn't

right now, delta deja vu. confirmed covid cases and hospitalizations are on the ride. and word now driven by covid life expectancy in the u.s. has dropped by a year and a half. that's the lowest it has been since world war ii. there are new mask mandates in pasadena, california. breakthrough cases among vaccinated staffers on capitol hill and at the white house. today raising critical concerns. we have sinking vaccination numbers nationwide. misinformation stunting our process, and the strength of this new variant being called into question. a new study suggesting that johnson and johnson's vaccine may be less effective against the variant. one illinois man drove 640 miles round trip just for that single shot vccine and told the

we want to be covid once and for all, we have to beat the delta variant. >> the delta variant became in the dominant strain in the united states in july, and it's not just in new york. these health care facilities are starting to implement vaccine programs. we know of at least a dozen hospitals in north carolina now committing to it as well. and beyond hospitals, other institutions are grappling with deciding how they're going to move forward with requiring vaccines. many private universities saying they will require it. public universities, it's a bit more of a challenge there. there are legal challenges coming up now. we know that a ruling recently upheld it indiana university's decision to require vaccines after a legal challenge there. and then of course, you have the private sector. private businesses, for example, morgan stanley requiring vaccines to come back. whereas delta says, it will necessarily require vaccines of their current employees. but new employees moving forward, they will. and then you have states entirely bucking this requirement, or any possibility of a requir

to others as well as those who had other versions of covid-19 like the delta variant. that was that last one in particular that was a lynchpin in the recommendation the cdc made yesterday. i know we don't want to go back to wearing masks again, but these masks are a layer of protection that will help us prevent spread where we are seeing cases rise. >> it is transmissible from a vaccinated person in a breakthrough case to a similarly vaccinated person who may be more challenged, elderly, have a problem with immunity? >> so the people that we're most concerned about are the unvaccinated. for example, if you have a lot of interaction with folks who are unvaccinated. say you're a parent like me who has young children at home who are unvaccinated, that's a circumstance where we're being extra cautious and wearing that mask even if you're fully vaccinated, wearing it outside when you're in indoor public locations that's an extra step to protect those at home. if you are vaccinated the the likelihood of having a breakthrough infekdz is still low because they're wokking to he

nonetheless it is up there among the states with the most prevalence of the delta variant. these are just numbers based on tuesday, based on cases that have been fully sequenced. there are almost certainly more than that. the message is that this is not over yet. >> hmm. >> there's some counties in the country like in the south, there's a lot of counties that barely have 30% have taken the vaccine. i worry about those counties and i think you will see regional surges there come the fall/winter when we have cold, dry air again. i think those counties in the south are going to experience a triple whammy, low vaccine uptake rates, the continued spread of the variants and, of course, seasonality. >> reporter: that's the issue, is the unvaccinated. there's still a pretty sizable population that has not gotten vaccinated yet. if you look at the national figures, we're talking about 147 million people 18 and over that are unvaccinated. here in california, you look at people who are 12 and over and it is still 10.6 million people. so there's a lot of potential there for this varian

we all know powerful variants have emerged like the delta variant, but the best defense against these variants is to get vaccinated. my fellow americans, it is the most patriotic thing that you can do. >> joining me now is the nbc news white house correspondent mime memoli, and this is a administration that had tremendous success for the goals they set for themselves, and the white house despite this setback by not meeting the 70% july fourth deadline, and they are looking ahead to the next pandemic challenge, and what have they learn and what happens now and what are they doing about it? >> i was on the south lawn yesterday watching the fireworks as the president hosted the largest gathering that he was able to of his entire presidency so far, and so even as they missed the vaccination target, this is a white house on the campaign-like footing throughout the weekend and you had the president and the vice president and the second gentleman fanned out throughout the country as what they called it "america back together" tour, and they were short of the number, but americans were enjoyi

they're trying to tamp down any possible surge of the delta variant. they're trying to make sure they can boost up. simply put, they don't have enough vaccinations here in the city. i spoke with new yorkers about how they feel about this program. listen to what they told me. >> i just hope more industries will start requiring at least testing or a vaccine instead of just like texas, saying, no, there's no mandates at all. i think that thinking is what this got this whole country into the biggest part of the problem? >> i feel safer to take care of somebody if i'm vaccinated. >> if you choate not to get vaccine, that's on you, but you have to follow other mandates, whatever the case is. >> reporter: so healthcare workers in the city will be required to show one-time proof of vaccination or test weekly. this does not apply to other essential workers just yet, but it's one of the most sweeping programs in the country, but also for this city that was once the epicenter for the pandemic. universities are trying to figure out how to move forward, but there's

gupta, they said the third vaccine dose gives more protection against the delta variant. where do you see it going? are we going to see shots and booter shots as an item because this variant is just changing? >> i -- we don't know yet. the data right now that exists at this moment was published in leading journals just last week, and they suggest two doses of the fooider vaccine is very effective for those of those over 65, or if you have a medical condition, that doesn't necessarily apply and they be first in line for the booster. but for everyone else, they need be really careful about their messaging so we don't confuse people. >> also, pfizer talking about the possibility of being able to give these shots to kids that are much younger. >> and that is great news. we know they're doing critical trials in those six to 111 years of age. right now are are suggesting they are safe and effective in that age group. so we're hoping that once it is rendered, that will be very help helpful, and then we expect the approval for those six to 11 years old will follow. >> thank you b

the delta variant is a game changer. and, therefore, we need to change the path that we thought we were on. >> i honestly -- i think joe biden has been clear as a bell, the cdc has been clear as a bell in a very difficult situation. a world pandemic. dr. fauci has been clear as a bell. and i hear this talking and talking about how we have to be more communicative. no. until the facebook problem is fixed. and i put a lot of other social media entities under the facebook umbrella but until the facebook problem is fixed, this continues. it continues. and at some point it has to stop where the disinformation is not allowed to fly around for free. and, you know, at fox it's a different story because it's a tv news organization or a news network that you could question what's happening there and ask them about their standards, that's a different, smaller story and it's terrible in itself. but what's happening on facebook is literally destroying our democracy and spreading disinformation faster than actual credible organization

two doses of pfizer and likely moderna keep you out of the hospital from delta. boosters are important for immunocompromised people and advanced age. rest of us, to be determined whether we need it. this is why it's important, ali. comment i get from most individuals yet to get the vaccine or thinking about it, why do i need so many shots? are pharmaceutical companies just trying to make a buck on me? this is going to worsen ability to address hesitancy, throwing out third shots without evidence. >> want to ask about -- talking to aye la stanford, getting people trusted to break people's vaccine resistance, the white house suggested it and puzzled by the response. lauren calling it nazi needle people and governors pushing back on the idea that people might talk to people to overcome their vaccine hesitancy. >> i'm not sure what they're afraid of. i've seen it work. whenever i've been doing it, seen it work and witnessed others. what we need is especially for those unvaccinated, tend to be younger people. need to change their threat perception. they're think covid

and where the delta variant is poised to do significant damage. "the new york times" reports from the baxter regional medical center, the largest hospital in north central arkansas, where fewer than one third of residents are vaccinated and fewer people are protected in surrounding counties that the hospital serves it found, quote, in the first half of june, the hospital averaged only one or two covid-19 patients a day. on thursday, 22 of the unit's 32 beds were filled with coronavirus patients. five more were in intensive care. in a single week, the number of covid patients had jumped by one third. hospitalizations have quadrupled since mid may. more than a third of patients are in intensive care. the retired national guard colonel who runs the states vaccination effort said, quote, we tried just about everything we can think of for about one in three residents, he said, i don't think there's a thing in the world we could do to get them vaccinated. he added that door knocking would probably do more harm than good giving residents' suspicions of f

we are concerned, the superintendents and i are concerned about the delta variant. we are hearing stories out of england that it's ripping through schools over there and we are concerned about that when it comes to the fall. >> reporter: alex, these state and local health officials are in a very unique position to try to protect kids, but also wait for a vaccine to become available to them. and even as the death rate is expected to triple by october with this delta variant, a new ap poll has some sobering numbers here. according to the ap poll, 45% of unvaccinated people say they definitely will not get the vaccine. 35% say they probably will not. 65% say they have little to no faith that the vaccine will work on the variants, which health officials have confirmed that it does and is effective against. alex? >> it is extraordinary, those numbers, probably as a result of the misinformation that's out there. but thank you for trying to correct it. >>> we're going to do that even further now. joining me is msnbc medical contributor and professor at boston university sc

right now with the delta variant, things have changed. what i mean by that is right now we are seeing younger people, healthy younger people being hospitalized with covid. so delta has been a game-changer in so many ways but this is one of the ways we see that. i have taken care of healthy 19-year-old woman in the hospital. i had a 23-year-old otherwise healthy male. you know, you're seeing younger 20s, late teens, younger 20s in the hospital. again, these are healthy people. these are not people with a lot of medical issues. when you see that consistently, it's not a one-time weird event, it's consistently seeing younger people in the hospital, you think, huh, better pay attention to this delta. it's changing the face of covid right now and of who's getting sick, and so that is scary. that is very scary. also i want to mention, one of the hospitals that we have, we have a five-hospital system. four adult hospitals and one children's hospital here in jacksonville, florida. our children's hospital right now in the last two weeks has consis

weekly surveillance is not enough especially for something as infectious as the delta variant. that may have worked a year ago, yasmin. you are absolutely right. so if i'm a worker, knowing -- and i'm vaccinated, i'm not going to feel very comfortable even unmasked if i think that the person next to me is unvaccinated and only getting tested weekly. so you're right to bring that up. i would just caution people to remind ourselves, you can't test out of covid. a testing strategy alone is not enough. that's why you have seen, by the way, the administration said it is not just testing. they are going to have to be kind of -- they will have to agree to distancing and kind of other mitigation measures. i think the idea there is that it is not really, quote, unquote, a vaccine mandate. it is a requirement short of a mandate, which is what you are seeing in the va and other employers do, where they're saying, if you don't get vaccinated you can't come to work. we can make accommodations for you, but work for you is not going to be in person with other people. >> i want to kind of get

even if you're vaccinated you can both contract the delta variant and spread the delta variant and that's very worrisome, but you will be protected to a large degree, from the most serious consequences and masking is an added element of protection. i think those messages are clear. i think the president has repeated them and i do think that the new evidence is worrisome, and you know, it is causing a re-assessment of the public health measures that we need to implement, but it doesn't take away from the benefit of the vaccine or the benefit of masking. of course, all of those things are correct and i appreciate your guidance on it and as gabe gutierrez learned, the resistance is not getting through in north carolina. >> yeah, andrea. as you mentioned, one in four health care workers across this country are still not vaccinated and here in new york there was a rally of health care workers just last week protesting the vaccine mandate here and the group i spoke with yesterday in north carolina, there were three nurses and one respiratory therapist. still, when i pressed them on their views

hilton, let me ask you because it is the delta variant. the big game changer as far as this pandemic, what changes with the delta variant that may be maybe weren't having to deal with six months ago. >> the thing that changes is that we should not have needed to get through this document. we lost 650,000 americans alone. so it should not take us getting to this point. we know as far as development for vaccines, if there will be a concern, if there will be a concern that a variant literally figures out a way to invade our system fully. make changes, make doses, and what happen americans sas to realize is what happens happening in africa and the other countries. they will directly impact them. how do we get the vaccines out as quickly as possible so we can stop the development of variants. and not have to deal with the mounting deaths and the collateral damage left in the wake including permanent disability of which we're seeing long covid. >> yeah, that game, it is amazing that in the united states where there are vaccines, plentiful vaccin

we are learning the extent of how dangerous the delta variant really is and how contagious it is, even among the fully vaccinated. cdc officials are saying the war has essentially changed. you mentioned earlier that there was an outbreak just a couple weeks ago in provincetown, massachusetts, and among the infected three-quarters were actually fully vaccinated, and based on further testing most of them had the delta variant. also at this current rate, according to the cdc documents, at this current rate we're seeing 35,000 breakthrough cases, but we do want to let folks know health officials are saying that vaccines are still effective, despite these new alarming numbers, and this is more reason for folks to get vaccinated, because we know now how contagious the delta variant is. it's as contagious as much as the chicken pox, and therefore getting this vaccine will keep you out of the hospital and also prevent deaths. this is a hot button issue. this has become very political. last tight cdc director rochelle walensky was on fox news. here's what she had to say when brett behr pressed