According to data available Wednesday morning, more than 196,400 of the country’s 453,360 cases were reported in New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 22% of the U.S. population is at home.
“Based on our most recent estimates of CDC surveillance, the B.1.1.7 variant is now the most common sex line circulating in the United States,” Walensky said on the White House Covid-19 response team.
With more transmissible variants, increases like Michigan’s could soon be seen more widely, although vaccination rates have increased nationally, Drs. Michael Osterholm, epidemiologist said.
“I wish we had another three or four months before this B.1.1.7 variation began to occur,” Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said Tuesday.
The rise of variants in some states like Michigan should make the federal government think about shifting the vaccines, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown School of Public Health, told CNN on Wednesday.
“The federal strategy should therefore be to move more vaccines to places like Michigan so they can use more vaccinations to stop the boom and save lives,” he said.
According to the CDC, more than 16,200 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant were confirmed in test trials in the US, and B.1.1.7 was found in all 50 states. This number does not represent the total number of such cases distributed in the United States, but only those found by analyzing positive samples.
Half of American adults may have had their first shot by the weekend, the White House said
By the end of the weekend, the U.S. will be closer to nearly half of all adults who have their first admission of a Covid-19 vaccine, a White House official said.
But advances in vaccines do not mean the country is done with the pandemic, a Biden adviser said.
“We need to remember that there are more than 100 million adults who have not yet been vaccinated,” Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to the White House for Covid-19 response, Chris Cuomo, told CNN on Tuesday. “They are not there yet, and you do not win the war until you bring everyone together.”
Some states are withdrawing mask mandates and opening up capacity for businesses. But Fauci said Tuesday that the precautionary measures taken are a mistake, while the majority of Americans are still unvaccinated.
“It is premature to declare a victory,” said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “We need to continue there a little bit longer by continuing with the social health measures.”
Fortunately, the U.S. still has tools to stay on track, even if the public is tired, Slavitt said. Opening up vaccine accessibility and focusing on vulnerable groups, as the US has given 80% of teachers and school staff at least once amid calls to reopen, could help the country reduce Covid-19 fight, Slavitt said.
Plans to reopen as vaccinations increase
Although health experts warn that the fight against Covid-19 has not yet been won, many states have already reopened and others plan to do so soon.
Falling infection rates, low hospitalizations and rising vaccinations are reasons California may reopen, Health and Human Services Minister Mark Ghaly said.
By that time, Vermont officials expect about 70% of state residents to receive at least one vaccine dose.
Many school districts are also changing their plans. Of the 101 largest school districts in the country, more than half offer a complete option for persons, although the families who choose it still have a complete remote control available.
According to the results of a new poll by Axios-Ipsos, just over half of parents – 52% – said on Tuesday that they would probably be vaccinated against Covid-19 if a vaccine was available for their age group. .
What life looks like after vaccination
Experts and officials are discussing how to monitor vaccinations once life in the US is back to normal.
Many experts have asked for vaccine passports – documentation of vaccination status that could give Americans more access to public institutions and large gatherings.
New York last month built the “Excelsior Pass,” which was the first state to give residents access to events such as sports and concerts.
And in California, certain businesses are already exploring the option of verifying that their customers are vaccinated.
But in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday issued an executive order banning organizations that receive public funds from providing proof of vaccination for services or access, according to a release from his office.
“The government should not require any Texan to provide evidence of vaccination and disclose private health information just to perform their daily lives,” Abbott said. “We will continue to vaccinate more Texans and protect public health – and we will do so without encroaching on the freedoms of Texans.”
In addition to vaccination debates, the U.S. will also have to face ‘long’ Covid ‘, a condition in which even patients with relatively mild illnesses can suffer symptoms long after their infection, Osterholm said.
“This is, I am afraid, one of the heritage issues of this pandemic,” Osterholm said.
Correction: An earlier version of the story and the headline of the story overestimated the percentage of American adults who would be vaccinated by the end of the weekend. The White House has explained that by the weekend, the U.S. will approach nearly half of all adults with their first ingestion of the coronavirus vaccine.
CNN’s Deidre McPhillips, Lauren Mascarenhas, Betsy Klein, Ashley Ahn, Kaitlan Collins, Jennifer Henderson, Michael Nedelman, Cheri Mossburg, Ryan Prior and Lauren del Valle contributed to this report.