A U.S. Army soldier from the 2nd Armored Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, immunizes Jacklina Mendez with the COVID-19 vaccine at the North Miami Dade College campus on March 9, 2021 in North Miami, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Even as the pace of vaccinations accelerates in the United States, cases of Covid-19 are growing in 21 states and highly infectious variants are spreading as governors relax restrictions on businesses such as restaurants, bars and gyms.
Public health officials warn that while about 2.5 million people nationwide are shot every day, infection levels have flattened this month and some states have failed to reduce the number of daily cases.
The 7-day moving average of new infections reached 54,666 on Friday, after weeks of decline, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.
More than 541,000 people in the United States have died of the disease.
The White House chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned in a briefing on Friday that the country should not declare victory until the level of infection is “much, much lower.” Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also called on states not to reopen too quickly and to undermine the country’s progress against the pandemic.
Knyckolas Davis (L) and Matthew Bettencourt celebrate 35 years of Davis with friends at Rizzo’s Bar & Inn in Wrigleyville, as coronavirus disease restrictions (COVID-19) are relaxed in Chicago, Illinois, USA, March 6, 2021.
Eileen T. Meslar | Reuters
“The concern is that, across the country, there are a number of states, cities, regions that are withdrawing some of the mitigation methods we talked about: the withdrawal of masked mandates, the withdrawal of essentially non-public health measures being implemented,” he said. said Fauci at the briefing.
“So it’s unfortunate, but it’s not surprising to me that you see increases in the number of cases a day in areas – cities, states or regions – even if the vaccines are distributed in a pretty good clip of 2 to 3 million a day “Fauci added. “This could be overcome if certain areas are prematurely withdrawn from the mitigation and public health measures we are all talking about.”
Infections grow in the following states: Alabama; Connecticut; Hawaii; Idaho; Illinois; Tomorrow; Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; Minnesota; Missouri; Montana; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; North Dakota; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; Virginia; Washington; and West Virginia.
The highly contagious variant first identified in the UK probably accounts for up to 30% of Covid infections in US health officials, saying the variant could become dominant by the end of this month or early April.
The variant is seen as the cause of the third wave of coronavirus in Europe. Several countries, including France and Italy, have imposed new blocking measures to mitigate the spread of the virus as cases increase.