There are renewed concerns across the path COVID-19 cases in the US are going in the wrong direction. The number of hospital admissions is on the rise and the number of cases is on the rise in 33 states.
According to the CDC, nearly 15% of the total U.S. population is now fully vaccinated, and nearly half of seniors 65 and older are fully vaccinated.
A daily record of more than 3.3 million recordings w was reported Friday, bringing the total number of doses administered in the United States to more than 136 million.
“We have the weapon that wins the war, we have the weapon that kills the enemy. But it has to be here,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Friday, pointing to his arm.
The push for vaccinations accelerated this week – from pop-up centers opening in New York to the Salvation Army reaching out to the underserved in Los Angeles, Michael George reports for “CBS This Morning: Saturday.” The government has also announced plans to double the number of troops to boost vaccine distribution.
The US is now one of the best countries in the world for COVID-19 vaccination, with more to come. US vaccine stocks will get a major boost this week. Johnson & Johnson says it is ready to deliver an additional 11 million doses.
Forty-seven states say anyone 16 or older is eligible for a vaccine by May 1. New York, Arkansas and Wyoming have yet to commit.
“Clearly there is cause for optimism, but there is no reason to relax,” said White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients on Friday.
As the number of cases is on the rise in many states, many people are still dying.
“The most recent seven-day average is about 57,000 cases per day, which is a seven percent increase over the previous seven days,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky said Friday. “The most recent seven-day average of new hospitalizations, approximately 4,700 per day, also represents a slight increase from the previous seven-day period. The seven-day average of deaths continues to hover at 1,000 deaths per day.”
“I remain very concerned about this trajectory,” she said.
Scientists are still trying to find out if vaccinated people can spread the virus. They study 12,000 vaccinated students and their contacts to answer that.
“We hope that within the next five months we can answer the very important question of whether vaccinated people become asymptomatically infected and if they do, they pass the infection on to others,” says Dr. Anthony Fauci. .