Fauci warns of more 'pain and suffering' as cases rise

Anthony Fauci, the US' top infectious diseases expert, warned on Sunday that there will be more "pain and suffering" as coronavirus infections rise across the United States.

The stark message from Fauci backed a fresh appeal by the White House chief medical adviser for more people to get vaccinated.

It also comes in the wake of a change in course last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, which now recommends that vaccinated people wear masks indoors in parts of the US where the Delta variant is pushing infection rates higher.

"We're looking to some pain and suffering in the future because we're seeing the cases go up… the solution to this is get vaccinated and this would not be happening," said Fauci, who is also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

With the CDC guidance switch, federal health officials have cited studies showing vaccinated people can spread the virus, in what they call "breakthrough" infections.

Although the vast majority of such transmissions lead to mild or no symptoms, the research shows that vaccinated carriers have about the same amount of coronavirus as those who didn't take the vaccines.

A survey by The New York Times of data from 10 states shows that more than 1 million vaccine doses have gone to waste since the nation began administering them in December. More than 110,000 doses have been destroyed in Georgia, officials there told the newspaper. Of the more than 53,000 doses wasted in New Jersey, nearly 20,000 were discarded in June, up from around 4,000 in April.

In Ohio, providers reported that more than 370,000 doses were unusable, while around 50,000 doses in Maryland were not used, officials said.

Among the reasons that the vaccines are wasted include breakage, storage and transportation issues, expiration, and doses prepared but not used after people didn't show up for appointments, the newspaper reported.

Agencies contributed to this story.