More and more U.S. counties with low vaccination rates are starting see Covid cases climb, putting residents at risk for “unnecessary” infections, hospitalizations and potentially deaths as the delta variant tears through the country, according to U.S. health officials.

“After several weeks of declining numbers of cases, followed by a long plateau, we are seeing an increase in the number of cases in many parts of the country now,” Dr. Jay Butler, deputy director for infectious diseases at the CDC, said on a call hosted by an industry group Tuesday. Hospitalization rates, which tend to lag confirmed cases, are similarly starting to climb, he said.

A CNBC analysis of U.S. vaccination rates and Covid cases shows there are 463 counties across the United States with high rates of infection — reporting at least 100 new cases over the last week per 100,000 residents — more than twice the U.S. rate. A majority of those counties, 80%, have vaccinated less than 40% of their 23 million residents, the analysis shows, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Johns Hopkins University.

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More than half of the counties in Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana have low vaccination rates and elevated levels of Covid cases, according to CNBC’s analysis. Those three states are seeing some of the highest levels of cases per capita in the country over the past seven days amid a surge in spread of the delta variant in southwest Missouri. ...