Half of all U.S. adults have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, the federal government announced Sunday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Sunday that nearly 130 million people age 18 and up have gotten a shot, The Associated Press reported. That’s 50.4% of the adult population. Nearly 84 million people, or 32.5% of the population, are fully vaccinated.
Those eager to get vaccinated are increasingly being able to walk into a facility and get one without an appointment. While overall willingness to get inoculated has increased, an unknown number of those who have not yet received a jab may be tough to convince, AP said.
In parts of the country, though, demand is still outstripping supply, KOMO-TV reported Saturday. In Washington State, the supply was “low and stagnant” as more people became eligible and the number of vaccines did not keep pace with the number of people wanting to get shots, KOMO reported.
In Utah, both vaccination rates and availability varied across the state, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Some rural residents were “going bonkers” for the shot, while others were holding back, the newspaper said.
Not helping in that regard was the pause put on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as health experts gauge whether rare – six out of 7 million vaccinated – blood clots in women between age 18 and 48 warranted a warning or restriction. That pause will most likely be lifted by Friday, The Washington Post reported.
The global death toll to date has topped 3 million, according to official figures, but the number may well be higher. In the U.S. it’s more than 560,000, with 31.6 million reported cases.
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