U.S. sees vaccinations increase amid devastating Delta wave

The United States passed the 200 million mark on Friday that has been vaccinated with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. And for two consecutive days, more than a million people have rolled up their sleeves to take a picture. These are daily highs not seen in nearly seven weeks.

Of this million daily vaccinations, approximately 562,000 and 534,000 the injections went to people receiving their first dose, according to White House COVID-19 data director Cyrus Shahpar. Earlier this week, the nationwide seven-day average of new first doses hovered around 400,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The increase in vaccinations comes amid a devastating wave of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths from the hypertransmissible delta variant, which now accounts for nearly all cases in the United States. The surge is expected to rival the country’s worst pandemic wave, which peaked in January 2021 with a daily average of new cases of around 200,000. The country now has an average of more than 130,000 cases per day, and that figure continues to increase.

Hospitalizations and deaths are also on the rise. In the past two weeks, hospitalizations have increased 53% and deaths have increased 108%, according to the New York Times data tracking. Hospitals in several states are reaching capacity and in some cases are running low on intensive care unit beds. The country has recorded around 1,000 deaths every day for the past two days. With highly effective vaccines widely available free of charge to everyone over the age of 12, almost all deaths are completely preventable.

The resurgence of the disease seems to stimulate vaccination in some places. As White House COVID-⁠19 response coordinator Jeff Zients noted last week, some of the states with the highest case rates are seeing some of the biggest gains in immunization. Over the past month, the average number of doses given each day tripled in Arkansas and quadrupled in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.

Generally, the more people protected by vaccines the better, however, the surge in injections is unlikely to spare the country from the worst of the current wave. It takes five to six weeks for the vaccination to provide full protection. Other mitigation efforts, such as proven measures of mask wear, crowd avoidance and good ventilation, may slow the current trend. That said, health experts say the extra protection from vaccinations now will help with fall, a new school year and colder weather approaching, all of which can spur increased transmission. .