Ex-FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb Says Delta Variant Likely to Become Dominant COVID Strain in U.S.
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb speaks about teen vaping during a discussion about overcoming obstacles, at the Newseum on March 6, 2019 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the Delta variant is likely to become the dominant COVID strain in the United States.

He noted that this could lead to new outbreaks in the fall, with the unvaccinated population being the most vulnerable, CBS News reported. Scott Gottlieb said it does not mean that the country will see a sharp uptick in infections.

"But it does mean that this is going to take over. And I think the risk is... this could spike a new epidemic heading into the fall," he added.

The former FDA commissioner noted that the Delta variant, also known as B.1.617.2, will continue to spread. A data from known British epidemiologist Neil Ferguson released last week showed that the Delta variant is more transmissible by 60 percent than the original B.1.1.7 variant first found in the United Kingdom.

But Scott Gottlieb noted that the COVID vaccines approved in the U.S. and overseas appear to be effective against the Delta variant, particularly the mRNA vaccine and its two doses.

The mRNA vaccines, which are about 88 percent effective, were developed by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech.

The Delta Variant

The Delta variant was first discovered in India in October. It has now spread to at least 62 countries as outbreaks spread across Asia and Africa despite a 15 percent week-over-week drop in cases worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

The WHO noted that they continue to observe the increased transmissibility and the growing number of countries reporting outbreaks with the said variant, CNBC reported.

The WHO's COVID-19 technical lead, Maria Van Kerkhove, said the Delta variant has increased transmissibility and can spread easier between people.

The COVID strain has now been detected in 74 countries, spurring fears that it will become the dominant COVID strain around the world.

The WHO said the Delta variant accounted for more than 90 percent of new cases in the past week, Market Watch reported.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had also declared that the dangerous new variant is a variant of concern, with the threat it poses to unvaccinated people.

COVID Vaccines' Effectiveness

A study conducted by Public Health England found that two doses of the vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca are highly effective in preventing hospitalization due to the Delta variant.

It also becomes a predominant COVID strain in the U.K. Ninety-six percent of those who received the two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine avoided hospitalization without any deaths.

Meanwhile, for those who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, 92 percent avoided hospitalization and deaths.

Mary Ramsay, the head of immunisation at Public Health England, said it is important to get both doses since this adds maximum protection against all existing and emerging variants.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said they are quite comfortable that they covered it. Bourla added that they would not need a special vaccine for the said variant as the current vaccine should cover the protection against it.

WATCH: Gottlieb Says Coronavirus Delta Variant Likely to Become Dominant U.S. Strain - From Face the Nation