Former chief of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Scott Gottlieb said on Sunday that the new variant of Delta called "Delta Plus" will not change the "trajectory" of the nation towards its fight against COVID-19.

Gottlieb shared his comments in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation," as he was asked if he was concerned about the new version of the Delta variant.

"I don't think this [Delta Plus] is enough to really change the trajectory of the direction we're [United States] heading in," the former FDA chief said in the interview, adding that the U.S. is closer to the end of the Delta variant wave.

CDC Monitoring Delta Plus

On Sunday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said that their agency is monitoring the new COVID-19 subvariant, also known as Delta Plus.

"We're watching it [Delta Plus] very carefully... We have had a handful of cases here in the United States but it has not taken off as it has in the U.K.," Walensky underscored.

The CDC director also noted that the sub-lineage of Delta variant was already on their radar, ever since it has emerged in the United Kingdom.

Despite confirming that there were Delta Plus cases in the U.S., Walensky highlighted that the new Delta variant will not prompt a travel ban from Europe.

"We're not anticipating that [travel ban] now. We are absolutely following all the science very very carefully, but we're not anticipating or looking into that right now," the CDC director said.

Delta Plus

Delta Plus, also known as AY.4.2, is an offshoot of Delta that includes new mutations on the spike protein, which the virus utilizes to penetrate the cells and infect individuals.

Experts from the United Kingdom said that Delta Plus may spread more easily than the regular Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, prompting the U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to move the said variant into the "variant under investigation" category, BBC reported.

However, Walensky disputed the claims of the experts on Sunday, saying that it has yet to be determined if Delta Plus is more contagious, despite being linked to a growing number of cases in the U.K.

According to UKHSA, Delta Plus is increasingly common in the U.K in recent months, mentioning evidence that the new variant "may have an increased growth rate in the U.K. compared to Delta."

Despite the emergence of the subversion of the Delta variant, experts believe that existing vaccines would still work well to protect the people.

"The public health advice is the same for all current variants. Get vaccinated and, for those eligible, come forward for your third or booster dose as appropriate as soon as you are called," UKHSA Chief Executive Dr. Jenny Harris said.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Dr. Scott Gottlieb Tweets 'Delta-Plus' Variant is not a Cause for Immediate Concern - From CNBC Television