Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky is "scared" about where the United States is heading amid more COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
During the White House COVID-19 briefing on Monday (March 29), Dr. Walensky shared her feeling of "impending doom" in relation to the possibility of another surge in cases.
"I so badly want to be done. I know you all so badly want to be done," Dr. Walensky said via CNN. "We are just almost there but not quite yet. And so I'm asking you to just hold on a little longer, to get vaccinated when you can so that all of those people that we all love will still be here when this pandemic ends."
The CDC's "COVID Data Tracker" shows about 28.6% of the U.S. population (95,015,762) has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 15.8% of the population (52,614,231) is already fully vaccinated.
"There's still a lot of vulnerable people out there. A lot of people are going to get sick and die unnecessarily when we're so close to the finish line," said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, while speaking with CNN Monday night.
The United States recently surpassed 550,000 deaths in relation to COVID-19, which is more than any other country.
Experts are urging Americans to continue following CDC guidelines and safety measures amid the possibility of another surge as many still aren't vaccinated and some state leaders have eased resrictions.
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