WASHINGTON (AP) – Half of all adults in the U.S. received at least one COVID-19 shot, the government announced Sunday, marking another milestone in the country’s largest vaccination campaign, but leaving more work to convince skeptical Americans to roll up their sleeves.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received nearly 130 million people aged 18 and over at least one dose of vaccine, or 50.4% of the total adult population. Nearly 84 million adults, or about 32.5% of the population, are fully vaccinated.
The US reached the 50% mark for adults, just a day after the global coronavirus mortality rate was an incredible 3 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University total, although the actual number is believed to be significantly higher.
In other developments, the country’s leading infectious disease expert on Sunday indicated that the government is likely to resume use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine this week, possibly with restrictions or broader warnings following reports of very rare cases of blood clots.
Dr Anthony Fauci, in a series of interviews with news programs, said he expects a decision when advisers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention meet on Friday to discuss the suspension of J & J’s single-dose vaccine.
“I would be very surprised if we did not resume in shape by Friday,” he said. “I do not really expect them to want it to be a little longer.”
Fauci, who is President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said he believes federal regulators can return the shots with age or gender restrictions or with a warning so that they are administered in a way that’s a bit different than we were before the break. ‘
The J&J vaccine was in limbo after the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration said last week that they needed more evidence to decide whether a handful of unusual blood clots were linked to the shot – and if so, how big the risk was. is.
The reports are rare – six cases out of more than 7 million US vaccinations with the J&J vaccine. The blood clots were found in six women between the ages of 18 and 48. One person is dead.
The acting FDA commissioner said she expected the break to last only a few days. Yet the decision last Tuesday caused a swift action in Europe and elsewhere.
Fauci said he had serious doubts that the US would permanently discontinue use of the J&J vaccine.
“I do not think it will happen,” he said. The interruption was to look, make sure we know all the information we may have within that timing, and also to warn some doctors that people, especially women, who have this particular side effect are seeing what they are treating. them properly. ‘
“I think it will probably say, ‘OK, we’re going to use it. But be careful under these certain circumstances.'”
More than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been given in the US, the vast majority with no or mild side effects. Authorities stressed that they found no evidence of clotting problems with the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines in the US – from Moderna and Pfizer.
Fauci appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press”, CNN’s “State of the Union”, ABC’s “This Week” and CBS’s “Face the Nation”.
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Mattise reports from Nashville, Tennessee.
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