WASHINGTON — Top infectious disease official Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that Americans who are immune compromised may end up needing COVID-19 vaccine booster shots as the United States deals with increasing cases from the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

“Those who are transplant patients, cancer chemotherapy, auto-immune diseases, that are on immunosuppressant regimens, those are the kind of individuals that if there’s going to be a third booster, which might likely happen, would be among first the vulnerable,” Mr. Fauci said during a CNN interview.

He added health officials are also considering whether to revise mask guidance for vaccinated Americans saying it was “under active consideration.”

Citing studies that show there might be waning immunity in vaccinated people, Fauci said US health officials are reviewing data to determine when boosters might be needed.

“It’s a dynamic situation. It’s a work in progress, it evolves like in so many other areas of the pandemic,” said Mr. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “You’ve got to look at the data.”

Last week, Israel’s health ministry reported a decrease in the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine in preventing infections and symptomatic illness. But it added that the two-dose COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer with partner BioNTech still remained highly effective in preventing severe illness.

The decline in efficacy coincided with the spread of the Delta variant, now the dominant strain in Israel.

Israel is administering third doses of the vaccine to immunocompromised people, including those who have had heart, lung, kidney or liver transplants and cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

The Delta variant, which was first found in India, is driving up infections in the United States.

The sharpest increases in COVID-19 cases are in places with lower vaccination rates. Florida, Texas and Missouri account for 40% of all new cases nationwide, with around one in five of all new US cases occurring in Florida, White House adviser Jeffrey Zients said last week. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday reported an uptick in the number of vaccine doses administered in the past 24 hours — 778,996, the highest number given in a 24-hour period since the United States reported giving 1.16 million doses on July 3.

However, that number is far below the peak of 4.63 million doses reported on April 10 and, despite the rise, the pace of vaccinations is still generally declining, CDC data shows.

Since vaccines became widely available in the spring, President Joe Biden’s White House has been conducting an aggressive campaign to get shots in arms that has been met with skepticism in some states and communities.

White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain on Sunday hailed the CDC numbers as a sign that vaccinations were picking back up.

Pfizer and BioNTech said on Friday that the United States had purchased 200 million more doses of their vaccine to help with pediatric vaccination as well as possible booster shots. — Reuters

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will become the first member of President Joseph R. Biden’s cabinet to visit Southeast Asia this week, seeking to emphasize the importance Washington places on fortifying ties in the region while pushing back against China.

The United States has put countering China at the heart of its national security policy for years and the Biden administration has called rivalry with Beijing “the biggest geopolitical test” of this century.

Six months into his presidency, however, Southeast Asian countries are still looking for details of Mr. Biden’s strategy as well as his specific plans for economic, trade and military engagement with the Indo-Pacific.

“You’ll hear me talk a lot about partnerships and the value of partnerships,” Mr. Austin told reporters enroute to Alaska.

“My goal is to strengthen relationships,” he said.

In a keynote speech in Singapore on Tuesday and meetings in Vietnam and the Philippines, Mr. Austin will call out aggressive Chinese behavior in the South China Sea and stress the importance of keeping the wider region free and open.

His trip follows the first visit by US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman to China on Sunday and Monday and coincide with a trip by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to India, another important partner in US efforts to counter Beijing.

Experts say Austin’s presence is important to make clear that Southeast Asia is a vital component in Mr. Biden’s efforts.

“The administration does understand that this region is critical, so that’s a big part of it: Just showing up,” said Gregory Poling, a senior fellow for Southeast Asia at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies.

An Asian diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it appeared the Biden administration was now directing its focus more firmly on Asia after addressing other global issues, such as relations with Russia and Europe.

Mr. Austin had been due to visit the region in June, but was forced to postpone due to COVID-19 restrictions in Singapore.

‘MEAT ON THE BONE’
So far the Biden administration has broadly sought to rally allies and partners to form a united front against what it says are China’s increasingly coercive economic and foreign policies.

One pillar of engagement that has been conspicuously lacking has been on the economic and trade side after Mr. Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, withdrew from the Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact in 2017.

The administration has made clear it is in no rush to rejoin such a pact, which critics say would cost American jobs, but has been discussing the possibility of smaller agreements such as on digital trade.

The Pentagon has completed a study of its China policy and Mr. Austin has issued an internal directive calling for several initiatives, but few details have emerged.

The US Navy has maintained a steady pattern of freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea and near Taiwan but these appear to have done little to discourage Beijing.

Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan all have rival claims to Beijing’s in the South China Sea and largely welcome a US presence in the face of China’s militarization of the waterway and its vast coastguard and fishing fleet.

Abraham Denmark, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, said Washington was saying “all the right things on competition” with China but there were questions about how it could “translate words into actions and investments.”

It was still unclear “what’s it’s going to look like in terms of our budget, in terms of our force posture, in terms of our investments in diplomacy and infrastructure, really putting meat on the bone,” he said.

Austin’s priority in the Philippines will be progress on renewing an agreement governing the presence of US troops there, which is of vital US strategic interest. A deadline for the pact’s expiration has been extended several times.

Analysts say Mr. Austin will need to strike a balance between stressing the China threat and making clear that Washington sees Southeast Asia as more than just a military theater.

“The emphasis from the region is yes, having the military around is good and welcome, but you need an economic strategy,” the Asian diplomat said. — Reuters