U.S. President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned that "things are going to get worse" as the Delta variant of the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States.

Washington.- "We have 100 million people in this country who are eligible to be vaccinated who are not getting vaccinated," Fauci, who is also director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview on Sunday.

However, he said he does not expect the United States will return to the policy of lockdowns, despite a growing threat of COVID-19 infections posed by the highly transmissible Delta variant. "I don't think we're going to see lockdowns," he stated.

"I think we have enough of the percentage of people in the country - not enough to crush the outbreak - but I believe enough to not allow us to get into the situation we were in last winter."

In the past 10 days, the average number of new cases has nearly doubled and the number of hospitalized patients in many states is surging, according to a Reuters analysis. The U.S. has plunged into confusion over wearing face masks as the Delta variant wreaks havoc across the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was forced to reverse its mask guidance after a new study showed the Delta COVID-19 variant produced similar amounts of virus in both vaccinated and unvaccinated people who were infected by it, alike.

The CDC Director said over the weekend that there will be no nationwide mandate for Americans to get a COVID-19 vaccine. She insisted, however, that getting vaccinated made it less likely that one will catch COVID-19 disease. However, for those who do catch it, the new study suggests they could have a similar liability of transmission as unvaccinated people, according to the CDC.

Results of the new study prompted CDC to recommend most fully vaccinated Americans wear masks indoors. (RHC)