“It’s almost a race between vaccinating people and the boom that apparently wants to increase,” Fauci said. He noted that Europe was experiencing an increase as experts in the US were concerned.
The US has vaccinated people rapidly, with just over 33% of the population – more than 109 million people – receiving at least one dose of the vaccine, and all 50 countries have committed to vaccinating all adults by 19 April open.
But the rate of vaccination in the arms of Americans will have to continue to increase now that the virus variant first identified in the UK is known to be more transmissible and presumably more deadly, the most common strain in the US , Walensky. said.
To combat the variant, Fauci urged Americans to be vaccinated and adhere to preventative measures.
“Stay there a little longer,” he said. “This is not the time, as I have said so many times, to declare victory prematurely.”
Business skewed younger
Recent infections have attracted younger people, which according to Fauci can be partly attributed to so many older people being vaccinated.
Fauci noted that more than 75% of people aged 65 and older received at least one survey of the Covid-19 vaccine in the US.
He said there are a number of factors at stake, including groups of cases in day care and school sports teams – in which people are in close contact and sometimes do not wear masks – and the B.1.1.7 variant.
“I think that is what explains these increases of cases in young individuals,” he said.
As cases tend toward younger Americans, many schools are expanding access to complete personal learning. About three-quarters of U.S. public schools are open to full-time personal or hybrid learning.
Of the 4th graders in the country, 39% attend full-time personal school and 29% of the 8th graders, according to data released Wednesday by the Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
The students who return to school are not yet eligible, although studies will hopefully show the effectiveness of vaccinations in children as young as six months in the coming months, Fauci said.
Until then, students under the age of 16 should continue to wear masks, avoid close contact and avoid indoor settings, Fauci said.
Vaccine risks and benefits
As the US wants to vaccinate people, experts and officials are leading with adverse reactions presumably related to some shots.
Operations were halted Wednesday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Colorado after health officials reported that 11 people who received their vaccinations had fallen ill.
The patients experienced symptoms such as nausea and dizziness and were transported from an abundance of caution to a local hospital for observation, according to a news release from the Colorado State Joint Information Center.
While the issues may sound familiar, government officials have said they have no reason to believe people vaccinated at the center should be concerned.
“The state has no reason to believe that people vaccinated at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park today should be concerned,” state officials said.
“From what we know, today’s side effects were in line with what can be expected,” COVID-19 Incident Commander Scott Bookman said in the news release. “Getting a vaccine is much safer than getting seriously ill with COVID-19.”
CNN’s Amanda Sealy, Ben Tinker, Lauren Mascarenhas, Betsy Klein, Elizabeth Stuart, Joe Sutton, Richard Greene and Schams Elwazer contributed to this report.