Battling The Delta Variant
Another big factor in the surging COVID-19 case rates is mutation.
With the delta variant, which is becoming predominant throughout the world because its more infectious, the vaccines have about 65 percent efficacy, versus 95 percent for the original strains, Dr. William Lang, medical director of World Clinic and former director of the White House Medical Unit, told Healthline.
This doesnt mean that 35 percent of people who are vaccinated are going to get infected. It means that the risk of developing a symptomatic infection is reduced by 65 percent, versus someone who isnt vaccinated, he explained. Perhaps even more importantly, it reduces by nearly 100 percent the chance of ICU hospitalization or death.
Lang said there are three levels of protection:
- protecting against any infection at all, which is difficult to determine
- protecting against symptomatic infection
- protecting against bad outcomes even if symptoms develop, which he said is what the major vaccines are doing
Vaccination is never perfect, no matter what the vaccination, Lang told Healthline. With such a small portion of hospitalized, it is probably that most do have some other health issue that decreases immunity or increases susceptibility.
In the end, theres only one way COVID-19 will go away, Dr. Christina Zhang, co-founder and medical director of MiDoctor Urgent Care in New York City, told Healthline.
Covid: Who Is Not Vaccinated In The Us And What’s The Risk
US President Joe Biden has urged Americans to get jabbed, saying the unvaccinated “have a significantly higher risk of ending up in hospital, or even dying”.
“Almost everyone who has died from Covid-19 in the past many months has been unvaccinated,” he told Americans on Tuesday.
About six in ten Americans are fully vaccinated, but in some states it’s fewer than that.
Tracking Vaccination Rates By Country
Charts show countries with at least 100,000 people
Less wealthy countries are relying on a vaccine-sharing arrangement called Covax, which originally aimed to provide two billion doses by the end of the year but has repeatedly cut its forecasts because of production problems, export bans and vaccine hoarding by wealthy nations. In its latest projection, it expected to have a total of 1.4 billion doses available by the end of 2021.
This has led to a striking divide between regions of the world. Africa has the slowest vaccination rate of any continent, with just 12.5 percent of the population receiving at least one dose of a vaccine.
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What May Motivate The Unvaccinated To Get A Shot
Some people who have yet to get vaccinated say they have encountered obstacles to obtaining shots, are worried about hidden costs or are waiting until they can get a shot from someone they trust. But the share of unvaccinated Americans who are held up because of issues of convenience is shrinking, survey research shows.
How Is The Vaccine And Booster Rollout Going
So far, more than 51 million people have had a first vaccine dose – some 90% of over-12s. More than 47 million – 82% of over-12s – have had both doses.
While uptake of first and second doses has dropped off, there has been a steep rise in people having boosters.
About 32 million booster doses have been administered across the UK, with a daily average of almost 890,000 jabs.
Vaccination rates have now levelled off in every age group in England apart from the youngest bands, as the chart below shows.
The highest rates of vaccination can be seen in the oldest age groups – among the first to be vaccinated.
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How Many Cases Vaccinations And Deaths In My Area
Enter a full UK postcode or council name to find out
A booster campaign, originally targeted at people over 40 or belonging to a number of other vulnerable groups, has been extended to all over-18s.
The government says every eligible adult will be offered a booster jab by the end of the year.
The minimum gap between the second jab and booster dose has also been reduced from six to three months, to speed up the process.
So far, the UK has approved four vaccines for use: Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen three of which require two doses for maximum protection.
All those aged under 40 are being offered an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to evidence linking it to rare blood clots.
The vaccine currently being used for under-18s in the UK is Pfizer-BioNTech, but the Moderna vaccine has also been authorised for use in children.
Those eligible for boosters will receive one dose of Pfizer or half a dose of Moderna.
There is no vaccine currently approved for use in the under-12s.
Is There Enough Vaccine
Currently, the Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna and one-shot Janssen vaccines are approved for use throughout the UK.
Others, such as those produced by Novavax and Valneva, have not yet been given the green light.
The UK had ordered more than 540 million doses of seven of the most promising vaccines, including the four so far approved for use.
In addition, the government has now signed deals to buy 114 million more doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to use in 2022 and 2023.
French vaccine maker Valneva said the UK government had scrapped a deal for 100m doses of its vaccine, which is yet to be approved.
*Note on map data: Booster analysis must be viewed with caution as towns and cities tend to have younger populations who have had access to second jabs and boosters for a shorter amount of time. This means these areas may have a lower percentage uptake for logistical reasons compared with parts of the country with older populations.
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Racial And Ethnic Differences
The share of unvaccinated non-Hispanic White adults was not different from the share who were vaccinated. The same was true for Hispanic adults.
But non-Hispanic Black adults were slightly more represented among the unvaccinated than the vaccinated , a small but statistically significant difference.
There were notable differences for the Asian population, however: 6% of the vaccinated were non-Hispanic Asian but only 1% of the unvaccinated were non-Hispanic Asian.
Vaccinations By Zip Code
Select the image to go to an interactive version of the map. Vaccinations by zip code source data
This map shows the share of the population that has received COVID-19 vaccine by zip code and the VEM quartiles.
The percentage of those who have received a partial or full series of COVID-19 vaccine out of the total eligible population in each zip code are indicated by gray shading. Darker shades of gray indicate a higher percentage. Lighter shades of gray indicate a lower percentage.
The VEM quartiles are identified by the colors of the circles at the center of each zip code.
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Feds Buy 12 Billion Doses Of Vaccine
A new report from the Government Accountability Office shows that, as of Apr 1, the United States had bought 1.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and is on track to have enough available doses to inoculate all US adults by the end of May.
The GAO said the federal government must continue to improve communication about federally run vaccination sites, especially as eligibility opens to all Americans over the age of 16 next Monday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID Data Tracker shows 255,400,665 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been delivered in the US, and 198,317,040 have been administered, with 78,498,290 Americans fully vaccinated.
Among those who have been fully vaccinated, the CDC has identified approximately 5,800 cases of COVID-19, the Wall Street Journal reports. The cases that have been reported come from 40 states.
That number represents 0.008% of the fully vaccinated population, and is in line with estimates based on vaccine efficacy rates.
The former head of the Food and Drug Administration, Scott Gottlieb, MD, said he fears America is approaching the place where vaccine supply will outweigh demand, and he fears the country will struggle to vaccinate half of the US adult population.
“I think we get to 150 million vaccines. I think we struggle to get to 160 million,” he said during an interview with National Public Radio. “Beyond that, I think it’s going to be difficult. I’m not sure that you have the demand there.”
Who Are The Unvaccinated
As of late May 2021, a majority of U.S. adults have received a COVID-19 vaccine, with 62% of adults reporting having gotten at least one dose according to the KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor. There are still substantial shares of the adult population who have not received a vaccine and many do not plan on getting vaccinated. This analysis, drawing on data from the KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor, provides some insights into the demographics of the currently unvaccinated population as well as their views of vaccines generally and the pandemic more broadly.
Unvaccinated adults are a shrinking population in the U.S. that, as of late May 2021, consists of about one-third of U.S. adults . Adults in this group are those, who despite outreach efforts and being eligible for a vaccine for at least six weeks, have not received a COVID-19 vaccine. The unvaccinated group are younger, more likely to identify as Republicans or be Republican-leaning, and more likely to have lower levels of education and lower incomes than the vaccinated population.
There are strong partisan differences in vaccine intentions with almost half of unvaccinated adults identifying as Republicans or Republican-leaning independents, compared to three in ten vaccinated adults. On the other hand, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents make up a majority of the vaccinated population , while about three in ten in the unvaccinated population identify as Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents.
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The Unvaccinated Are 5 Times More Likely To Be Hospitalized When Infected
The highly contagious omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus often does an end run around the immunological protections of vaccination or prior infection. But recent data from the U.K. and Canada indicate that these breakthrough omicron infections are much less dangerous than first-time infections in unvaccinated people.
Ontario public health authorities report that as of yesterday, 2,093 and 288 people are being treated for omicron variant infections in hospitals and intensive care units , respectively. The hospitalization rate per million among unvaccinated people stands at 532.7 it’s 105.9 for folks vaccinated with at least two doses. This means that the reduction of hospitalization risk for those inoculated with at least two doses is 80.1 percent.
The ICU occupancy rate per million is 135.6 for unvaccinated people and just 9.2 for those who have gotten two doses of COVID-19 vaccines. So vaccination reduces the ICU risk by 93.2 percent.
An analysis by the United Kingdom Health Security Agency similarly found that “the risk of being admitted to hospital for Omicron cases was lower for those who had received 2 doses of a vaccine compared to those who had not received any vaccination.” The risk “was lower still among those who had received 3 doses of vaccine .”
Vaccination Status By Age Race And Ethnicity And Vaccine Equity Metric
These charts show our progress in vaccinating groups and communities with the most urgent need. You can view by age, race and ethnicity, or Vaccine Equity Metric , either statewide or by county. These charts are updated weekly on Wednesday.
These charts use the California Healthy Places Index , developed by the Public Health Alliance of Southern California, which explores local factors that predict life expectancy and compares community conditions across the state. The HPI quartiles are the total state population divided into 25% segments based on conditions that shape health, including housing, transportation, and education.
The VEM combines HPI with California Department of Public Health -derived scores. Zip codes range from less healthy community conditions in Quartile 1 to more healthy community conditions in Quartile 4.
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States Ranked By Percentage Of Population Fully Vaccinated: Dec 22
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Vermont has the highest percentage of its population fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the CDC’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration data tracker.
The CDC’s data tracker compiles data from healthcare facilities and public health authorities. It updates daily to report the total number of people in each state who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The numbers reported by the CDC may vary from the numbers published on individual states’ public health websites, as there may be reporting lags between the states and the CDC.
As of 6 a.m. EDT Dec. 21, a total of 204,578,725 Americans had been fully vaccinated, or 61.6 percent of the country’s population, according to the CDC’s data.
Below are the states and Washington, D.C., ranked by the percentage of their population that has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the CDC.
1. VermontNumber of people fully vaccinated: 478,502Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 76.68
2. Rhode IslandNumber of people fully vaccinated: 802,940Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 75.79
3. MaineNumber of people fully vaccinated: 1,011,729Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 75.27
4. ConnecticutNumber of people fully vaccinated: 2,644,544Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 74.17
5. MassachusettsNumber of people fully vaccinated: 5,102,236Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 74.03
Why We Need To Compare The Rates Of Death Between Vaccinated And Unvaccinated
During a pandemic, you might see headlines like Half of those who died from the virus were vaccinated.
It would be wrong to draw any conclusions about whether the vaccines are protecting people from the virus based on this headline. The headline is not providing enough information to draw any conclusions.
Lets think through an example to see this.
Imagine we live in a place with a population of 60 people.
Then we learn that of the 10 who died from the virus. And we learn that 50% of them were vaccinated.
The newspaper may run the headline Half of those who died from the virus were vaccinated. But this headline does not tell us anything about whether the vaccine is protecting people or not.
To be able to say anything, we also need to know about those who did not die: how many people in this population were vaccinated? And how many were not vaccinated?
Now we have all the information we need and can calculate the death rates:
- of 10 unvaccinated people, 5 died the death rate among the unvaccinated is 50%
- of 50 vaccinated people, 5 died the death rate among the vaccinated is 10%
We therefore see that the death rate among the vaccinated is 5-times lower than among the unvaccinated.
This example was illustrating how to think about these statistics in a hypothetical case. Below, you can find the real data for the situation in the COVID-19 pandemic now.
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Why People Remain Unvaccinated
Reasons given by the vaccine hesitant for not yet getting a shot.
Note: People could select more than one answer.
Dr. Laolu Fayanju, a family medicine doctor in Ohio, has encountered patients on both ends of the spectrum: those who are insistent in their refusal to be vaccinated, and others who agree to a shot after he painstakingly lays out facts.
Never did he expect that so many Americans would still be resisting a shot this many months into the vaccination effort.
I vacillate between anguish and anger, Dr. Fayanju said. We live in an era of unprecedented scientific breakthroughs and expertise. But were also stymied by the forces of misinformation that undermine the true knowledge that is out there.
Unvaccinated Adults Younger Less Educated
Adults who had not received any doses of the COVID vaccine differed from those who had received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine across several measures.
- They were younger, on average, than those who had been vaccinated. Roughly 75% of the unvaccinated were under age 50. Among the vaccinated, less than half were under age 50.
- They had lower levels of education, on average, than those who were vaccinated. Survey respondents who had received at least one dose were twice as likely as the unvaccinated to have a college degree or higher.
- They were much less likely than vaccinated adults to be married .
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Who Are The Hard
Most of the HPS response options are either about information or trust .
However, one involves access: It’s hard for me to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Who are the people in the small subset of adults who responded to the HPS who reported that they had not gotten a vaccine because it was hard to get?
Compared to all HPS respondents, the hard-to-reach:
- Were more likely to be non-White.
- Were less likely to be married .
- Had lower levels of education, on average, and were more economically disadvantaged about half of this hard-to-reach population reported difficulty meeting expenses in the week prior to the survey.
- Were much more likely to report a disability. The HPS asks about difficulty seeing, hearing, remembering or walking or climbing stairs. Those who reported being unvaccinated because they had no access to the vaccine were almost twice as likely to report either complete impairment or a lot of difficulty with one or more of these measures than the general population.
Vaccines And Compliance With Guidance
Percentage of fully-vaccinated contacts of a positive case who developed symptoms was higher in January 2022 than in November 2021
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The majority of fully-vaccinated contacts of a positive COVID-19 case reported they had taken daily lateral flow tests .
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Of those who took lateral flow tests, 20% reported testing positive for COVID-19 on one of their tests.
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A significantly higher proportion of respondents developed symptoms in January 2022 compared with November 2021 .
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Around 18% felt the current isolation guidance for double-vaccinated people was insufficient to keep the public safe, a significant decrease from 29% in November 2021.
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In this context, an individual is considered fully vaccinated if they have received the recommended doses of the vaccine, regardless of whether they have had the booster dose.
For pupils aged 5 to 11 years, 62% of their parents said they were likely to agree to their child having a COVID-19 vaccine compared with 24% who said they were unlikely to agree to their child having a vaccine . The most common reasons for parents not wanting their child to be vaccinated included worrying about the side effects and wanting to wait to see how it works for children aged 5 to 11 years .
The sample size of children whose parents were unlikely to agree to them getting a COVID-19 vaccine was 582.
Most unvaccinated people did not give a reason that would motivate them to get a COVID-19 vaccine
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