CDC: 10% of U.S. Adult Population Fully Vaccinated for COVID-19

 APPROXIMATELY 10% OF the adult population in the U.S. has received both coronavirus vaccine doses, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the CDC vaccine tracker, over 96 million doses have been delivered across the country and nearly 77 million administered. Of adults aged 18 or older, nearly 20% – over 50 million people – have received one or more doses.

The U.S. saw record levels of daily vaccinations over the weekend, according to Jeffrey Zients, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus response team. The seven-day average of doses administered has recovered to levels seen before winter weather disruptions.

It's a milestone that comes as the decline of key coronavirus metrics appears to be stalling, which the CDC director has said could be due to the spread of more contagious variants. The agency is urging states to keep mitigation measures in place.

"Please hear me clearly: At this level of cases with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a White House coronavirus briefing Monday.

The agency previously predicted that the variant first found in the U.K. would become the dominant strain circulating in the U.S. this month. Just last week, new variants were documented in California and New York.

The development also comes on the heels of a third coronavirus vaccine gaining regulatory approval in the U.S. The Biden administration expects nearly 4 million doses of the single-dose vaccine from Johnson & Johnson to be distributed this week.

The CDC defines a fully vaccinated person as someone who has waited two weeks after their last dose of the vaccine. Leading infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci last week said the agency would soon issue guidance on what activities fully vaccinated individuals can do.

"I believe you're going to be hearing more of the recommendations of how you can relax the stringency of some of the things, particularly when you're dealing with something like your own personal family when people have been vaccinated," Fauci told CNN.

The CDC has already updated some guidance for fully vaccinated individuals, saying they do not need to quarantine after exposure to an infected individual.

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-03-01/cdc-10-of-us-adult-population-fully-vaccinated-for-coronavirus