White House hails ‘milestone’ as half of all US seniors are fully vaccinated

96 million Americans have received at least one dose of the vaccine so far

Half of all US seniors have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the White House announced on Tuesday.

Andy Slavitt, a senior coronavirus adviser to the Biden administration, called the development a “milestone” as more states prepare to expand vaccine eligibility this week.

Some 53 million Americans have been fully vaccinated, according to the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) — a figure that amounts to 16 per cent of the population. Ninety-six million, around 29 per cent, have had one dose. Most vaccines require two doses for protection. 

The elderly are particularly at risk from the coronavirus and have been prioritised in the vaccine rollout. Eight out of 10 Covid deaths in the US have been adults aged over 65.

The news that half of America’s seniors have protection against the virus came just a day after the Biden administration warned that a rise in cases across the country could undermine the progress made in the fight against the virus so far. Cases have risen by 10 per cent across the US compared to last week, amounting to some 60,000 cases per day, as some states have relaxed mitigation measures designed to stop the spread of the virus.

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At a White House health briefing on Monday, Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said she had a feeling of “impending doom” as cases were rising.

"We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope. But right now, I’m scared," she said.

"I’m speaking today not necessarily as your CDC director, and not only as your CDC director, but as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter, to ask you to just please hold on a little while longer," Dr Walensky said. "I so badly want to be done. I know you all so badly want to be done. We’re just almost there, but not quite yet. And so I’m asking you to just hold on a little longer to get vaccinated when you can, so that all of those people that we all love will still be here when this pandemic ends."

President Biden said that at least 90 per cent of the US population would be eligible for a vaccine by the end of April.

"We still are in a war with this deadly virus and we’re bolstering our defenses, but this war is far from won,” he said.

The US is currently administering some 2.8 million vaccine doses a day, putting it on target to vaccinate every adult in the country by 4 July.

More than a dozen US states are set to open vaccine eligibility to all adults this week at the same time as cases are rising sharply.

Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, North Dakota and Kansas opened eligibility to anyone 16 and older on Monday. New York opened vaccine appointments for all adults over the age of 30 on Tuesday.