Tens of millions of Americans have not yet begun getting vaccinated, National Health Institute director Dr. this virus behind us “.
“We need to really figure out how to get the messages across so that those who are still undecided get the information they need to see why it’s really something they would like to do.”
But experts say the U.S. needs much higher levels of vaccination to control the virus.
“If we overcome this terrible pandemic, most of us will be immune. Otherwise, the virus can go on and on,” Collins said.
And efforts (federal, state, and local) continue to increase these vaccination figures.
“I think our effort is changing and it’s targeting younger people who just don’t think so much about Covid,” Andy Slavitt, senior advisor for Covid-19’s response to the White House, told CNN.
“We are really close to this light at the end of the tunnel. Those of you who have not yet been vaccinated, please go get a vaccine as soon as possible. Do it for yourself, do it for the your family, do it for your friends and do it so we can all leave behind this global pandemic, ”Hogan said in a statement.
Hundreds of Americans die every day
While many government leaders point to the imminent end of the pandemic, Covid-19 numbers in the United States remain high.
A daily average of more than 62,900 Covid-19 infections were reported last week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
And hundreds of Americans continue to lose their lives every day. Last week alone, the U.S. reported more than 4,900 deaths from Covid-19.
In Washington state, Covid-19 cases are increasing in most counties and hospitalizations are on the rise, with a sharp increase in the number of young adults hospitalized, said Dr. Umair Shah, the state’s health secretary. .
And most counties have also detected variants, Shah said.
A new study highlights the importance of vaccines
Of the 417 Rockefeller University employees who were completely vaccinated with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, only two of them had advanced infections later, according to the study.
The researchers found that variants with several differences from the original virus caused these advanced infections.
“We have characterized the good faith examples of vaccine advancement that manifest as clinical symptoms,” they wrote. “These observations in no way undermine the importance of urgent efforts at the federal and state levels to vaccinate the U.S. population. They also support efforts to advance a new vaccine booster (as well as a vaccine against coronavirus) to provide greater protection against variants “.
Another study that examined infections in nursing homes in Chicago found that most vaccinated residents were not infected with the virus even after someone from the same facility tested positive.
Of these advanced cases, two-thirds were asymptomatic. Two residents were hospitalized and one of those residents died, the CDC said. The person who died had three underlying conditions, the agency added.
CNN’s Rebekah Riess, Jen Christensen, Jacqueline Howard and Jenn Selva contributed to this report.