One-third of Americans have received first dose of Covid-19 vaccine

Roughly 58 million people in US fully vaccinated, CDC data show

More than 100 million Americans have received their first dose of a Covid-19vaccine, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Roughly 58 million Americans – or more than 17 per cent of the US – have been fully inoculated from the coronavirus, the agency reported on Saturday.

President Joe Biden has committed to getting 200 million doses into Americans’ arms within his first 100 days in office, upping an initial goal of 100 million, which the US eclipsed on his 59th day in office.

At current vaccination rates, with more than 2 million daily jabs, the US is on pace to reach the president’s goal by late April.

“I know it’s ambitious, twice our original goal, but no other country in the world has even come close – not even close – to what we are doing, and I believe we can do it,” the president said during his first solo press conference on 25 March. “I believe we can do it.”

The majority of the people who have received the combined total of 159 million shots – which includes data from both first and second doses – are Americans ages 65 and older, according to CDC data.

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The latest milestone also follows guidance from the nation’s public health agency that Americans who have received two doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine can begin travelling domestically and internationally, while continuing other distancing and mask-wearing guidance.

Vaccinated airline passengers do not need to quarantine upon return to the US or take a coronavirus test before they depart, the federal health agency announced on Friday.

CDC officials have said that while the risk of transmission still exists among inoculated people, a recent CDC study released earlier this week found that both doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were 90 per cent effective in preventing Covid-19 infections in a real-world setting.

But CDC and public health officials have warned that a rise in infections across the US could undermine the progress if Americans abandon mask and social distancing guidance too early. Cases have risen by roughly 10 per cent across the US compared to the previous week, amounting to some 60,000 cases per day, as some states have relaxed mitigation measures designed to stop the spread of the virus.

More than 554,000 Americans have died from the disease within the past year, and more than 2.8 million infections have been confirmed.

Coronavirus was the third-leading cause of death in the US, the CDC reported this week.

Hospitalisations remain at roughly 4,900 admissions per day, and nearly 900 Americans die every day from the disease, based on the CDC’s current seven-day average.