Half of all adults in the US have received at least one COVID-19 shot, the government announced on Sunday, marking another milestone in the nation’s largest-ever vaccination campaign, but leaving more work to do to convince skeptical Americans to roll up their sleeves.
Almost 130 million people 18 or older have received at least one dose of a vaccine, or 50.4 percent of the total adult population, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
Almost 84 million adults, or about 32.5 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated.
Photo: Reuters
The US cleared the 50 percent mark just a day after the reported global death toll from COVID-19 topped a staggering 3 million, according to totals compiled by Johns Hopkins University, although the actual number is believed to be significantly higher.
The country’s vaccination rate, at 61.6 doses administered per 100 people, falls behind Israel, which leads among countries with at least 5 million people with a rate of 119.2, and also trails the United Arab Emirates, Chile and the UK, which is vaccinating at a rate of 62 doses per 100 people, according to Our World in Data, an online research site.
The vaccine campaign has offered hope in places such as Nashville, Tennessee, where the Music City Center bustled on Sunday with vaccine seekers. High demand for appointment-only shots at the convention center has leveled off enough that walk-ins would be welcome starting this week.
Amanda Grimsley, who received her second shot, said she is ready to see her 96-year-old grandmother, who lives in Alabama and has been nervous about getting the vaccine after having a bad reaction to a flu shot.
“It’s a little emotional. I haven’t been able to see my grandmother in a year and a half almost, and that’s the longest my entire family has ever gone without seeing her, and we’ll be seeing her in mid-May now,” 35-year-old Grimsley said.
The states with the highest vaccination rates have a history of voting for the Democrats and supported US President Joe Biden in last year’s election: New Hampshire at the top, with 71.1 percent, followed by New Mexico, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine, CDC data showed.
The demand has not been the same in many areas of Tennessee — particularly, rural ones.
Tennessee sits in the bottom four states for rates of adults getting at least one shot, at 40.8 percent. It is trailed only by Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi — three other Southern states that lean Republican and voted for former US president Donald Trump.
Vaccination rates do not always align with how states vote, but polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research has shown trends that link political leanings and attitudes about the vaccines and other COVID-19 pandemic-related issues, but, overall, willingness to get vaccinated has risen.
US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci said that the goal is to get community figures, from athletes to clergy, to encourage vaccinations, particularly as the seven-day national average of cases remains over 60,000 new infections per day.
“What we are doing is we’re trying to get, by a community core, trusted messages that anyone would feel comfortable with listening to, whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat, an independent or whomever you are, that you’re comfortable,” Fauci said on Sunday on ABC’s This Week.
Fauci also said the government would likely move to resume use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine this week, possibly with restrictions or broader warnings after reports of some very rare blood clot cases.
Fauci said he expects a decision when advisers to the CDC meet on Friday to discuss the pause in Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine.
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