More than 66 million Americans are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 – but the number of cases and hospitalizations continues to rise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned.
Friday, more than 112 million people in the US – or 33.7 percent of the population – received at least one dose of vaccine, while 66.2 million people – or 19.9 percent of the population – were fully vaccinated, data shows of the CDC. .
That means “more than a quarter of all adult Americans now fully vaccinated,” Jeff Zients, White House coordinator of the coronavirus, said at a virtual press conference Friday.
But even as more and more Americans are stung, the pandemic is still raging.
The current seven-day average of new cases is up about 2 percent from the previous seven-day period – by more than 64,000 per day, said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky during the briefing.
About 74,860 new coronavirus cases were reported in the US on Thursday, she added.
COVID-19-related hospital admissions are rising even faster.
The seven-day average of hospital admissions nationwide climbed to about 5,300 – an increase of about 7 percent from the previous seven-day period, data from the CDC shows.
“On the one hand, we have so much cause for optimism and hope and more Americans are getting vaccinated and protected from COVID-19,” Walensky said. “On the other hand, there have been more cases and emergency room visits.”
The CDC director explained that the increase in the number of cases is being caused by younger adults, “most of whom have not yet been vaccinated.”
The rise in infections has also “increased in some regions of the country, such as the Upper Midwest,” she added.
In states like Michigan and Minnesota, there is an increasing number of virus cases related to the highly contagious British variety known as B.1.1.7.
“In both states, there are concerns about the transfer in youth sports, both club sports and sports that are affiliated with schools,” Walensky explains.
“What’s happening in Minnesota and Michigan is similar to what we’re seeing across the country – increasing reports of cases related to youth sports.”
But, she added, “I want to be clear as the number of cases in the community increases, we expect the number of cases diagnosed in schools to increase as well. This is not necessarily an indication of transmission at school. “
Meanwhile, in the field of vaccines, an average of 3 million vaccinations a day is now given in the US, up from 2.9 million last week, Zients said.
This week alone, a total of more than 28 million vaccination shots were delivered to states, tribes and territories through federal channels, he noted.
That’s “more than enough inventory to maintain and increase our current seven-day average of 3 million shots per day,” Zients insisted.
But as a way to combat the unwanted upswing in cases, the federal government will prioritize and boost resources to hard-hit states.
The FBI will work with states “to make sure they use all doses received,” Zients said.
“Today, millions of doses have been distributed, but not yet administered as weapon injections.”
In addition, the FBI will “pump” personnel, including CDC response teams, to those states to support vaccination efforts and get more weapons, increase testing capacity, and offer more “therapies and treatments,” said the coronavirus coordinator. of the White House said.
“We are working to put this pandemic behind us as soon as possible,” said Zients. “We all have to stay on our guard and get this job done.”
COVID-19-related deaths in the US continue to decline, at a current seven-day average of 711, according to CDC data.