U.S. Vaccinations Hit 2-Year Low Amidst Recent Surge (Good News)

Vaccination Dip in the U.S.

It’s seen that the 7-day average for vaccine doses in the country decreased to 127,000/day. This shows a decline in vaccination as compared to the earlier months of 2022 when the numbers were one million+ doses/day.

On comparing the weekly doses for March, CDC says that the seven-day average for this week was nearly 27 times lesser than the earlier week. This means that vaccination rates are suffering from a steady decline with passing time. 

If we look at the vaccinated population of the U.S., presently, around 255 million people are partially/entirely vaccinated in the U.S. This is about 76-77% of the country. Of this number, 217+ million people are fully vaccinated, which is nearly 65.4% of the entire population. 

In the case of booster shots, the rates are still lower, with less than half the eligible population being inoculated with booster shots. As per experts, booster shots are important to combat the Omicron sub-variant as the virus is potent enough to invade the immunity of prior doses. 

Recently, the U.S. has seen an uptick in Covid cases! Professionals believe that with low vaccination and booster shots, the U.S. might face a crisis like other countries combating the virus.

The reminder to lesser boosters came from a professor at the Yale School of Public Health, Mr. Jason Schwartz. In a tweet, he mentioned, “Periodic reminder that U.S. booster coverage is terrible, especially considering most in this group are not opposed to vaccines in general, and many are high risk (age or otherwise),” 

The Challenge of Allergy Amidst Covid19

Another challenge that added up to the virus case spike was the allergy season coinciding with the spread. Not only did it contribute to worsening symptoms, but it also confused the healthcare practitioners as they struggled to differentiate between the two conditions. This delayed early diagnosis and hence added up to the challenge!

BA.2 is already a dominant variant across the world, with maximum effects on Europe and Asia. As of 29th March, the world has recorded 28.8 lakh covid cases and 6,237 deaths. Out of these numbers, the U.S. recorded 25,628 cases and 757 deaths. 

As of BA.2, the variant is doubling (if compared to other variants) every two weeks in the U.S. The country in early February recorded only 1% of BA.2 in sequenced cases. 

Get the Shot!

With surging numbers and advice by experts, it’s worth taking shots if you haven’t already! For the people who are eligible for boosters, get your booster shots to keep the virus at bay. We have to fight this virus together, after all!