WASHINGTON, May 22 (Xinhua) – For the first time in 11 months, the average new daily COVID-19 infections in the United States fell below 30,000, with most communities emerging from the worst of the pandemic, but progress has not been the same across the country.
UNEVEN PROGRESS
According to state health department data cited by the Washington Post, the seven-day average fell to 27,815 on Friday, the lowest since June 22 and less than a tenth of the infection rate during the wave winter.
Hotspots remain on the map of the pandemic, especially in parts of the Deep South and Pacific Northwest. At the local level, progress against the contagion has not been uniform as some communities grapple with inequalities in vaccine distribution and in the impacts of the virus on health, the Washington Post said.
The vast majority of the United States map has turned pale green, color-coded for “low or moderate” viral load, but, according to David Rubin, director of PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the big question is now whether the virus will be completely quelled through scaling up vaccinations, or whether it will pick up in areas with low vaccination rates and possibly ignite when the colder weather returns.
A TARGET OF 70% OF THE POPULATION VACCINATED IN JULY REACHABLE
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that currently 60.5% of American adults have received at least one injection, putting the country on track to meet the 70% target by July 4. of the vaccinated population, demanded by US President Joe Biden. Administration officials are also increasingly convinced that the pandemic will be brought under control in the coming months despite the threat of variants.
To reach the goal, nearly 500,000 Americans would need to receive the first dose of the vaccine each day for the next 44 days. About 160 million Americans have already received at least one dose.
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, believes the target will be met with the current vaccination rate, adding that although the number of vaccines administered daily has decreased, the rate is still high enough. so that the objective is reached.
According to figures from John Hopkins University, the United States currently records 552 coronavirus-related deaths on average per day, the lowest level since July, with 589,428 total reported deaths in the country since the start of the pandemic. End
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