In the initial statement that it is too early to consider approving an enhanced COVID-19 vaccine, the US government and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention seem to be changing their attitudes, partly because of concerns that these vaccines may have a delta variant.
New York Times According to the report, there has been a growing consensus within the Biden administration that at least some Americans vaccinated by Pfizer need booster injections. Research continues to show that the vaccine is less effective against the virus after about six months, which means Those 65 years and older or those with compromised immune systems may need to prepare additional doses.
Just when Pfizer said it would be soon Seek emergency authorization Approved the development of booster injections, but both the FDA and CDC dismissed concerns, saying that boosters are not needed yet. Pfizer said at the time that its global study of clinical trial participants showed that within 4 to 6 months after the second dose, the effectiveness of symptomatic infections was low, and the protection rate dropped from 95% to 84%.
The change of mind may also be due to new information from Israel. Researchers estimate that Pfizer’s program may drop to 39% effective Although it is still more than 90% effective in preventing serious diseases. This information is particularly worrying in the United States, where Delta Variant has now become the main strain. Cases and deaths surge Again in all 50 states-mostly unvaccinated people.
America, now Lagging behind other countries In terms of the percentage of people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, there has been an increase in cases, NBC Finance Channel An average of 43,700 new cases were reported every day last week, an increase of 65% from the previous week and almost three times the level two weeks ago.The new model does not show variants reach the peak Until October, this means that the number may continue to climb at a high speed.
The states that reported the highest daily average number of new cases per capita in the past week were Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Florida, and Nevada, all of which registered at least twice the number of other states in the United States.
In particular, the number of hospitalizations and cases in Florida has increased significantly, Associated Press Report. 5,300 Floridans were hospitalized due to COVID-19, a 65% increase from the previous week, and 95% of those hospitalized were not vaccinated.
Unsurprisingly, the state with the highest vaccination rate is either the state that lifted the restriction earlier or the state with the lowest vaccination rate.According to the data from New York Times, Louisiana’s vaccination rate is only ahead of Mississippi. 51.1% of adults 12 years of age and older have received the vaccine at least once, and only 46.4% reported being fully vaccinated. Arkansas is also one of the lower performing states, with 55.5% of people vaccinated once and 44.8% fully vaccinated.
Although Missouri, Florida and Nevada rank much higher, each state has more than 50% of residents vaccinated, but it is still far below the other states, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine States, Rhode Island, and Maryland reported that more than 70% of residents were fully vaccinated, while New Jersey, Washington, New Mexico, New York, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Minnesota reported that more than 65% of residents The residents were fully vaccinated. Followed by Hawaii, Pennsylvania, California, Washington DC, Virginia, Delaware, Colorado, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Iowa, at least 60% of residents are fully vaccinated.
Photo: AFP/Justin Tallis
