Seeking Independence From COVID
After acknowledging that it came up short on the goal, the White House shifted its focus to a milestone that it has met: 300 million shots were administered during the first 150 days of the administration.
According to Jeffrey D. Zients, the administration’s pandemic response coordinator, the amount by which the vaccination rate will fall short is not significant.
Speaking at a White House briefing, Zients said, “We have built an unparalleled, first-of-its-kind, nationwide vaccination program. And as a result, we have successfully executed the most complex, logistical task: Administering 300 million shots in just 150 days.”
Zients added that July 4th—the Independence Day holiday in the U.S.—was an auspicious goal set back in March for what he called “independence” from COVID-19. He also noted that at that time, the pace of vaccinations was so slow that it would have taken a full year to get to having 300 million shots accomplished.
Vaccination Rates Vary
In the U.S. currently, 70% of adults aged 30 and over have received at least one shot of a COVID vaccine. During the White House press briefing, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, added that adults aged 18 to 29 appear to have more reluctance to be vaccinated than older populations.
According to the White House, 16 states and the District of Columbia have already reached a vaccination rate for adults of 70%. However, the New York Times reported that 15 states (primarily in the South and the Rocky Mountain states) will take months—or even a year—to reach the 70% benchmark at the rate that shots are being administered there.
Marcus Plescia, MD, MPH, the chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, told the New York Times that there are significant pockets of the U.S., or whole states, where there is a greater risk of another wave of COVID-19 infections occurring and that the higher vaccination rate seen on the national level can be misleading.
Will We Ever Reach Herd Immunity?
The ultimate goal of any COVID-19 vaccination program is to achieve herd immunity against the virus. Herd immunity occurs when a large enough percentage of a community becomes immune to a disease, which makes the spread of the disease less likely.
During the White House briefing, Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, noted that a reasonable estimate of achieving herd immunity would be having between 70% and 85% of the U.S. population being immune to the COVID virus.
What Low Vaccination Uptake Means for Variants
Zients explained that the pockets of the U.S. where vaccination rates are low mean that there is a greater risk of the spread of variants of the virus that causes COVID-19.
The Delta variant—which arose in India—is now spreading in the U.S. The variant is both more easily spread than the original virus and is associated with more severe illness. Fauci said that the Delta variant “is currently the greatest threat in the U.S. to our attempt to eliminate COVID-19.”
However, Fauci also pointed out that the available vaccines are effective against the variant—it’s just a matter of getting people to get vaccinated.
The lower rate of vaccinations among young adults may require extra efforts on the part of the government and organizations and corporations, many of which are making special offers for people who are vaccinated.
Zients said that “where the country has more work to do is particularly with 18-to-26-year-olds." He added that many young people appear to feel “like COVID-19 is not something that impacts them, and they’ve been less eager to get the shot.”
The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. For the most recent updates on COVID-19, visit our coronavirus news page.
