![\"President](\"https:\/\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/106899739-1624042792266-AP21169681550086.jpg?v=1624042885&w=740&h=416\")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nPresident\u00a0Joe Biden<\/a>\u00a0on Friday doubled down on his administration\u2019s plea to Americans to get vaccinated against\u00a0Covid-19<\/a>\u00a0as quickly as possible, warning the highly transmissible delta variant appears to be \u201cparticularly dangerous\u201d for young people.<\/p>\n \u201cThe data is clear: If you are unvaccinated, you\u2019re at risk of getting seriously ill or dying or spreading it,\u201d Biden said during a news conference from the White House.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Delta, the Covid variant first identified in India, \u201cwill leave unvaccinated people even more vulnerable than they were a month ago,\u201d he added. \u201cIt is a variant that is more easily transmissible, potentially deadlier and particularly dangerous for young people.\u201d<\/p>\n Biden said the best way young people can protect themselves is to get fully vaccinated.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease, please if you have one shot, get the second shot as soon as you can,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The president\u2019s comments come as his administration\u2019s latest goal \u2013 to get 70% of U.S. adults partially vaccinated by the Fourth of July \u2013\u00a0is on track to fall short<\/a>\u00a0as the pace of inoculations slows.<\/p>\n The World Health Organization\u2019s chief scientist said earlier Friday that delta is\u00a0becoming the dominant strain of the disease worldwide<\/a>. That\u2019s because of its \u201csignificantly increased transmissibility,\u201d Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO\u2019s chief scientist, said during a news conference.<\/p>\n Studies suggest delta is around 60% more transmissible than alpha, the variant first identified in the United Kingdom that was more contagious than the original strain that emerged from Wuhan, China, in late 2019.<\/p>\n Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky also said Friday that she expects delta to become the dominant variant in the United States and urged people to get vaccinated. The variant now makes up 10% of all new cases in the United States, up from 6% last week, according to the data from CDC.<\/p>\n \u201cAs worrisome as this delta strain is with regard to its hyper transmissibility, our vaccines work,\u201d Walensky told the ABC program \u201cGood Morning America.\u201d If you get vaccinated, \u201cyou\u2019ll be protected against this delta variant,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Health experts say the delta strain is particularly worrisome for young people, many of whom have yet to get vaccinated. While scientists still don\u2019t know whether delta causes more severe symptoms,\u00a0there are signs<\/a>\u00a0that it could provoke different symptoms than other variants.<\/p>\n Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia, said the delta variant has essentially replaced alpha, the variant that swept across Europe and later the U.S. earlier this year. He said as the virus continues to mutate, the U.S. will need a higher percentage of the population vaccinated.<\/p>\n \u201cHow much more information do we need to see that this virus mutates and creates viruses that are more contagious?\u201d said Offit, also a member of the FDA\u2019s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. \u201cWe need to vaccinate now. Get everyone vaccinated now.\u201d<\/p>\n As of Friday, more than 176 million Americans, or 53.1% of the population, have had at least one shot, according to data compiled by the CDC. More than 148 million Americans are fully vaccinated, according to the agency.<\/p>\n