WASHINGTON (AP) – Half of all adults in the US have received at least one COVID-19 shot, the government announced Sunday, another milestone in the country’s largest ever vaccination campaign, but more needs to be done to Skeptical Americans to convince them to roll up their sleeves.
Nearly 130 million people 18 or older have received at least one dose of a vaccine, or 50.4% of the total adult population, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Nearly 84 million adults, or about 32.5% of the population, are fully vaccinated.
The US cleared the 50% adult mark just a day after the reported global death toll from the coronavirus hit a whopping 3 million, according to totals compiled by Johns Hopkins University, although the actual number is believed to be significantly higher.
In other developments, the country’s top infectious diseases expert said on Sunday that the government is likely to resume use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine this week, possibly with restrictions or broader warnings following reports of some very rare cases of blood clots.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a series of interviews with news shows that he expects a decision when advisers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention meet Friday to discuss the break in J & J’s single-dose vaccine.
“I would be very surprised if we don’t have a resumption in some form on Friday,” he said. “I don’t really expect them to want to stretch it any longer.”
Fauci, who is President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said he believed federal regulators could bring the shots back with age or gender restrictions or with a general warning so that it is administered in a way that “ sort of different from us. were for the break. “
The J&J vaccine was in limbo after the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration said last week they needed more evidence to decide if a handful of unusual blood clots were linked to the injection – and if so, how big it was. risk.
The reports are rare – six cases of the more than 7 million US vaccinations with the J&J vaccine. The clots were found in six women between the ages of 18 and 48. One person died.
The acting FDA commissioner had said she expected the break to last only a few days. Still, Tuesday’s decision sparked swift action in Europe and elsewhere.
Fauci said he had serious doubts that the US would permanently discontinue use of the J&J vaccine.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said. “The break was to take a look, make sure we know all the information we might have within that time frame, and also alert some of the doctors that people, especially women, who might have this particular side effect. see they treat them the right way. “
“I think it will probably say, ‘Okay, we’re going to use it. But be careful under these particular circumstances.'”
In the US, more than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been given, the vast majority with no or mild side effects. Authorities stressed that they have found no signs of clot problems with the most commonly used COVID-19 vaccines in the US – from Moderna and Pfizer.
Fauci has appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” CNN’s “State of the Union,” “ABC’s” This Week, “and CBS” Face the Nation. “
Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee.
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