The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the Covid-19 outbreak in the US is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated, according to AP.

Speaking during a White House briefing, Dr Rochelle Walensky says cases in the US are up about 70 per cent over the last week, hospital admissions are up 36pc and deaths rose by 26pc. Nearly all hospital admissions and deaths, she says, are among the unvaccinated.

White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients echoed the pandemic is one that predominantly threatens unvaccinated people. He says the Biden administration expects cases to increase in the weeks ahead because of spread in communities with low vaccination rates.