Story at a glance
- “Virtually all COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in the United States are now occurring among unvaccinated individuals,” White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said Thursday.
- The current seven-day average for new cases is more than 13,800 per day, an increase of nearly 11 percent from the previous week.
- The seven-day average for hospitalizations is 1,871, a 1-percent increase from the week before.
White House officials say nearly all COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. are taking place among Americans who have yet to receive the vaccine as the delta variant continues to spread.
“As a country, we’re closer than ever to ending this pandemic and getting back to normal. But the sad reality is that despite our progress, we’re still losing people to this virus,” White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said during a briefing Thursday.
“Virtually all COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in the United States are now occurring among unvaccinated individuals. And to be clear, there will likely continue to be an increase in cases among unvaccinated Americans and in communities with low vaccination rates, particularly given the spread of the more transmissible delta variant,” he said.
Cases in the U.S. have slightly increased as the highly infectious delta variant has become the dominant COVID-19 strain in the country, making up more than 50 percent of cases.
The current seven-day average for new cases is more than 13,800 per day, an increase of nearly 11 percent from the previous week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The seven-day average for hospitalizations is 1,871, a 1-percent increase from the week before.
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CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said there are 173 counties across the U.S. with case rates of greater than or equal to 100 cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days. Of the 173 with the highest case rates, 93 percent have less than 40 percent vaccination coverage.
“These counties are where more than 9 million Americans live and work, and are the locations in the country where we are seeing the increased hospitalizations and deaths among unvaccinated individuals,” she said.
More than 64 percent of eligible Americans have received at least one dose of vaccine, and more than 55 percent are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
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