US Covid Vaccination Rate Rising Again As 1 Million Doses Given In 1 Day

People are demonstrating more serious concern about Covid as even in hardcore anti-vax areas, the inoculation numbers are showing some improvement. Alabama has officially run out of ICU beds while school districts in all the most populous cities in Florida have rebelled against the governor's anti-mask mandates and are imposing strict school masking rules despite his threats of retribution.  

These developments suggest a growing weariness with the pandemic and a desire to put an end to it rather than the earlier adherence to ideological tropes. JL

Nathaniel Weixel reports in The Hill:

Thursday marks the first time there have been at least 1 million doses administered in close to seven weeks. More than one million doses were administered in the past 24 hours, including half a million people with a first dose. It is a 31% week-over-week increase in the daily average number of people completing their vaccine series. The numbers show the vaccination rate is increasing across the country after weeks of stagnating at about 500,000 per day. Vaccinations had slowed down after hitting a peak in mid-April of about 3.3 million doses per day.
The levels of vaccination in the country are rising. According to White House figures, more than one million doses were administered in the past 24 hours, including half a million people with a first dose.

Thursday marks the first time there have been at least 1 million doses administered in close to seven weeks.

It is also a 31 percent week-over-week increase in the daily average number of people completing their vaccine series.

The numbers show the vaccination rate is increasing across the country after weeks of stagnating at about 500,000 per day. Vaccinations had slowed down after hitting a peak in mid-April of about 3.3 million doses per day. 

But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just under 60 percent of the entire eligible U.S. population is fully vaccinated, indicating the U.S. still has progress to make to combat the virus, especially as cases, hospitalizations and deaths have surged across the country. The Biden administration on Wednesday announced booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines would be available starting the week of Sept. 20 after concluding that a third shot is needed to fight off waning immunity.

Concern over the delta variant has led to some people taking matters into their own hands and getting an unauthorized booster dose. The CDC has only recently begun tracking unauthorized boosters, and the data hasn't been separated from the total figures.

According to initial data, about 1.14 million Americans who received two mRNA shots got one or more additional doses, and about 91,000 people who received a single Johnson & Johnson dose got themselves an unauthorized additional dose.

Thursday's announcement could be a sign of things slowly beginning to turn.

Caveat: The first doses are a true sign of progress, but the total numbers aren't yet able to distinguish people who get unauthorized booster doses. The administration aims to start making boosters available by next month, but concern over the delta variant has led to people taking matters into their own hands.

Texas faces tipping point as COVID-19 spreads

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who is fully vaccinated, tested positive for COVID-19 this week as deaths in his state from the coronavirus have more than doubled in the last two weeks and hospitals have reached capacity.

While Abbott suffered a relatively rare breakthrough infection, less than half the state’s total population is fully vaccinated against the virus, putting them at heavy risk of getting COVID-19.

The massive spike in cases could also easily climb more, with unvaccinated students across the state returning to school this week amid a battle with Abbott over mask mandates in classes to protect children aged 12 and under, who do not yet have the option to be vaccinated. 

The dynamics have put everyone on edge and have created heated political battles between Abbott and the Democratic leaders of several urban centers.

“We are concerned about escalating numbers. Our cases yesterday were higher than our seven-day moving average, our hospitalizations higher than our seven-day moving average, ICUs higher than our seven-day moving average, so we are still real concerned about the numbers we are seeing,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler (D) told The Hill on Wednesday. 

“We do know that the best way, and really the only way, out of this long-term is for people to get vaccinated, so we are doing everything we can to get more and more people vaccinated.”