Coronavirus Watch: How the Delta variant may affect the US

The Delta variant of COVID-19 tore through India last month. Now it accounts for at least 6% of U.S. infections.

"Globally, Delta is the most serious development that we know of in terms of the evolution of the virus," said William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Read more here.

It's Wednesday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news you need to know:

• Moderna announced that the federal government has purchased an additional 200 million doses of vaccine, primarily for vaccinating children or for use as a booster for people already vaccinated.
• Almost a quarter of patients develop long-lasting symptoms or Long COVID, a new report by FAIR Health shows. The study found older patients had a higher chance of developing high cholesterol while younger patients were more likely to develop gastrointestinal issues.
• The Food and Drug Administration has authorized for use another batch of vaccine produced at Johnson & Johnson's troubled Emergent BioSolutions facility. Multiple news outlets reported the batch totals 14 million doses.
• Washington University and BJC HealthCare, two of the largest employers in the St. Louis area, have announced they will require employees to be fully vaccinated by fall. 

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 33 million COVID-19 cases and 600,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 176 million cases and more than 3.8 million deaths. Nearly 53% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 44% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Tracking the pandemic: See the numbers in your area here. See where cases are rising here. See vaccination rates here. And here, compare vaccinations rates worldwide and see which countries are using which vaccines.

– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck