Berlin, Jul 1 (UNI/Sputnik) German Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Thursday that the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant was projected to become the dominant strain across the country as early as this month.

“Delta will soon become the dominant strain in Germany. It is my expectation that we will see the share of Delta cases among new ones exceed 70-80% as early as July,” he told a press conference on COVID-19 response.

Spahn warned that the mutation was spreading fast across Europe, driving infection numbers upwards in countries with a large share of vaccinated population, such as the United Kingdom.

Spahn said keeping up a steadily high vaccination pace was crucial to defeating the virus. More than 55% of Germans have received at least one dose of the vaccine, with 37.3% being fully immunized. Almost a million doses were administered on Wednesday alone.(UNI)