More Americans received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine than tested positive for the virus, an early but promising milestone in the race to end the pandemic.
As of Monday afternoon, 26.5 million Americans had received one or both doses of current vaccines, according to data compiled by the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker. Since the first US patient tested positive outside Seattle a year ago, 26.3 million people in the country have tested positive for the disease and 443,000 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The US has given about 1.34 million doses a day, according to data collected by the Bloomberg. Although the launch stumbled in the first few days, in the six weeks since the first vaccines came into combat, almost 7.8% of Americans received one or more doses and 1.8% are fully vaccinated.
In Louisiana, 406 vaccine suppliers across the state will receive doses of the COVID-19 vaccine this week, up 15% from last week, WBRZ-TV reports.
These providers – comprising 143 pharmacy chains, 118 independent pharmacies, 55 hospitals, 28 community health centers, seven rural health clinics and 55 other health centers – are in all 64 parishes.
Public health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease physician, estimate that 70% to 85% of the 330 million Americans must be exposed to the pathogen through a virus or vaccine to achieve a level of immunity collective. Read the full story.