Half of US adults have now received at least 1 COVID-19 shot

WASHINGTON (AP) – Half of all U.S. adults have received at least one COVID-19 stroke, the government announced Sunday, marking another milestone in the nation’s largest vaccination campaign, but leaving more to be done. persuades skeptical Americans to roll up their sleeves.

Nearly 130 million people over the age of 18 have received at least one dose of the vaccine, or 50.4 percent of the total adult population, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Nearly 84 million adults, or about 32.5% of the population, have been completely vaccinated.

Fauci, who is President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said he believes federal regulators could bring fires with age or sex restrictions or a general warning so that they can be managed in a way that “They were a little different from us before the break. ”

The US removed the 50% mark for adults just one day after the global reporting of coronavirus deaths exceeded a staggering 3 million, according to totals compiled by Johns Hopkins University, although the actual number is believed to be significantly higher.

In other developments, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert said on Sunday that the government is likely to resume the use of COVID-19 Johnson & Johnson this week, possibly with wider restrictions or warnings following reports of very rare cases of clots. of blood.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, in a series of news interviews, said he is awaiting a decision when advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention meet Friday to discuss the breakdown in J & J’s single-dose vaccine.

“I would be very surprised if we don’t resume in some form by Friday,” he said. “I don’t really anticipate that they will want to stretch a little further.”

Fauci, who is President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said he believes federal regulators could bring fires with age or sex restrictions or a general warning so that they can be administered in a way that “A little different than we were before the break. ”

The J&J vaccine was in the tongue after the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration said last week that they needed more evidence to decide whether a handful of unusual blood clots were linked to the shooting – and if so, how high is the risk.

Reports are rare – six cases out of more than 7 million US J&J vaccinations. The clots were found in six women between the ages of 18 and 48. One person died.

The FDA’s interim commissioner said the break was expected to last only a few days. However, last Tuesday’s decision triggered swift action in Europe and elsewhere.

Fauci said he seriously doubts that the US will permanently stop using the J&J vaccine.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said. “The break was to take a look, to make sure we know all the information we can have in this time frame, and also to warn some doctors out there who might see people, especially women, who they have this special adverse event, which they treat accordingly. ”

“I think he will probably say, ‘OK, we’ll use it. But be careful in these circumstances. ”

More than 6.8 million doses of J&J vaccine have been administered in the United States, the vast majority without side effects or mild side effects. Authorities said they found no signs of clot problems with the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines in the United States – from Moderna and Pfizer.

Fauci appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” CNN’s “State of the Union,” ABC’s “This Week,” and CBS’s “Face the Nation.”