The United States this week hit a major milestone in efforts to administer COVID-19 vaccines to the population.
Approximately 50 percent of adults 18 or older as of May 26 have been fully vaccinated against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, according to federal data.
“This is a major milestone in our country’s vaccination efforts,” acting COVID-19 administrator Andy Slavitt told a virtual briefing.
Just 1 percent of Americans were fully vaccinated when President Joe Biden took office on Jan. 20.
U.S. regulators granted emergency use authorization to two COVID-19 vaccines the month prior. Both vaccines require two doses. Fully vaccinated refers to people who get both doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson jab, which was authorized in March.
Half of U.S. states and Washington D.C. have fully vaccinated 50 percent or more of their adult population, with 9 states seeing 70 percent of more adult residents being fully vaccinated.
“I really do want to applaud all of the good work and applaud all the people in those states,” Slavitt said, praising people who have gotten a vaccine and connecting the figures with the drop in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths seen across the nation in recent months.
Another nearly 11 percent of U.S. adults have gotten at least one vaccine dose, putting them within several weeks of being fully vaccinated.
One of the most vulnerable populations, those 65 years old or older, are a big portion of the fully vaccinated. Almost three-quarters of that population is fully vaccinated, according to federal data.
The rising number of fully vaccinated means that some states are approaching the threshold of herd immunity, which also includes those who previously had COVID-19 and recovered, Dr. David Boulware, a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota’s Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine, told The Epoch Times via email.
