People are waiting in line to receive a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine at the Jacob K. Javits Conference Center on the west side of Manhattan, which was converted on March 2, 2021, into a mass vaccination site in New York, New York. York. .
Mike Segar | Reuters
WASHINGTON – The United States administered a record number of Covid-19 vaccines over the weekend as public health officials called on state leaders to keep social distance measures in place to prevent a new upsurge in the fight against the virus can undermine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention administered 2.9 million vaccines on Saturday, a record $ 2.4 million on Sunday, according to the agency’s latest report. The numbers are subject to review as more information becomes available to public health officials.
According to the CDC, more than one in five adults has now received at least one dose of vaccine, while just over one in ten has received two doses. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require two injections, while the recently approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires one injection.
Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, told NBC’s Meet The Press on Sunday that the country now averages more than 2 million shots a day, compared to an average of 900,000 daily injections during the early days. of the vaccination campaign. .
President Joe Biden said last week that the U.S. would have enough vaccine doses for each adult by the end of May, two months earlier than expected. However, Zients warned that although the country has made progress in building up vaccinations, the country needs to reduce with the mitigation measures.
“We’re on our way – we need to make sure we do not keep waiting,” Zients said. “People must face the challenge of the president to cover up. People must take the vaccine when it is their turn. We must stay on this path and defeat this pandemic.”
Zients joins a chorus of public health officials warning the country not to watch as several states drop mask mandates and drop other restrictions on the coronavirus as cases drop and vaccinations increase.
Last week, Arizona, Texas, Alabama, South Carolina, California and Mississippi relaxed restrictions to varying degrees.
The governor of Arizona has ended the capacity constraints for businesses, but said they still need masks. Texas also announced a return to full-capacity businesses, but abandoned its mask mandate. The Alabama governor has said the state will lift its mask mandate after April 9. South Carolina has lifted the state’s mask mandate in government buildings, but has recommended that restaurants still need face coverage.
California will allow theme parks, outdoor sports and live events at stadiums to resume on April 1 with less capacity and mandatory masks. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday that the state will allow restaurants outside New York City to return to 75% capacity.
Mississippi also announced last week that businesses can operate at full capacity and abandon the state’s mask mandate.
On Sunday, the Mississippi government’s Tate Reeves responded to criticism from public health officials that his decision to ease Covid’s restrictions was premature.
“Our approach was not only to protect lives, but also to protect livelihoods. We need to get our economy going so that individuals can get back to work,” Reeves said in an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union “said.
Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the White House, warned Americans to remain vigilant and adhere to public health measures while the government works to vaccinate the country.
“We want to come back carefully and slowly,” Fauci said on CBS ‘Face the Nation program. “But do not turn the switch on and off, because it would be really dangerous to have a boom again,” Fauci said of states changing the mitigation methods.
Similarly, Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said on NBC’s program “Meet the Press” that the US may see an increase in cases due to the new variants.
Osterholm explained on Sunday that the US “is currently in the eye of the hurricane.”
Osterholm said the appearance of the more contagious B.1.1.7. variant, first identified in the UK, will continue to grow. He added that about 40% of cases across the country are linked to the variant.
Although new Covid infections are still declining from the catastrophic winter peak, on average it remains stubbornly high at more than 60,000 new cases per day, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. This is comparable to the increase the US experienced last summer.
Deaths have also declined from the devastating winter peak, but remain dangerously high. According to Johns Hopkins data, an average of more than 1,700 people die each day from the virus.