The highly transmissible delta variant of COVID-19 might be one of the most contagious diseases in recent history, according to a top epidemiologist who worked with the World Health Organization to help eradicate smallpox.
Pandefense Advisory CEO and founder Larry Brilliant said that new strains of the coronavirus will develop unless vaccinations increase globally, The Hill reported.
“This is maybe the most contagious virus that we’ve ever seen in living memory,” Brilliant said Friday in an interview with CNBC, adding that it feels like the world is still dealing with the beginning of the pandemic rather than the end due to the new variant.
“Unless we vaccinate everyone in 200-plus countries, there will still be new variants,” he said, as he encouraged people age 65 or older to get booster shots in the near future.
Brilliant explained that for that age group, their weak immune system may cause them to be more vulnerable to the virus.
“So those people, I would say, should be given a third dose, a booster right away — as quickly as moving the vaccines to those countries that haven’t had a very high chance to buy them or have access to them,” Brilliant said. “I consider those two things about equal.”
