After months of slow progress, America’s COVID vaccine drive jolted ahead this week with the nation administering a total of 9 million shots, more than it had administered in one week since spring, according to Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, who spoke in a press briefing earlier today.
That progress is due in part to the uptake of booster shots—13.4% of vaccinated Americans had received one as of Wednesday, Nov. 10, according to CDC data—as well as the newly eligible cohort of 5- to 11-year-old children (900,000, according to Zients) and others seeking first doses, many to meet vaccine mandates.
In all, 224.7 million Americans—67.7% of the total population and 79% of those over 12—have gotten at least one COVID shot. Nationwide, 58.5% of the population is fully vaccinated. States and territories with the highest share of fully vaccinated residents include Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont with levels that exceed 70%. West Virginia lags the rest of the country at 41.1%.
Booster shots have outnumbered the combined number of first and second doses administered nationally in recent weeks. Of the 26.2 million Americans who have gotten a booster shot, the majority—15.2 million—have been over 65. Nearly a third of all vaccinated seniors have so far gotten a booster dose.
The majority of booster doses—15.3 million—administered have been Pfizer’s product. Most have gone to individuals who initially received the Pfizer vaccine, but roughly 400,000 went to people who had initially received the Moderna vaccine, and 314,000 went to those who had the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Community spread of the coronavirus remains high throughout most of the country, according to the CDC, though in states in the Southeast the level is described as moderate to substantial. Hotspots are concentrated in Western states, though the number of new cases reported daily has begun to climb again nationally, with the current average of roughly 75,000 up 6% over the level two weeks ago, according to New York Times data. Arizona reported the sharpest increase in daily reported cases, up 73% over two weeks ago, followed by New Hampshire. New cases declined most in Idaho, down nearly 40% in the same period.
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