US nearly 200 million people fully vaccinated

The United States would soon surpass more than 200 million people fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 198 million people in the United States were fully vaccinated as of Saturday, representing nearly 60% of the total population. More than 45 million had also received additional doses.

According to the Hawaii Department of Health, 71.6% of Hawaii’s 1.42 million residents were fully vaccinated as of Friday. 76.4% of the eligible population aged 5 and over had completed the vaccination process. More than 246,000 had received booster doses.

On the Big Island, 64% of the island’s 199,457 population were fully vaccinated as of Friday. If you just include the eligible population, Hawaii County has seen 68% of residents ages 5 and older complete the vaccination process.

On Tuesday, the agency’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky that although health officials encourage those eligible to receive a booster vaccination, the agency is not changing its definition from fully vaccinated to include “booster vaccination right now”.

Many vaccination clinics and local officials report long queues and delays in booking vaccination appointments, which experts believe were the product of the expanded authorization for boosters and fears about the new Omicron variant, although much is still unknown about the new version.

Mitchel Rothholz, the head of vaccination policy at the American Pharmacists Association, said that as demand increased, pharmacies would move more to an appointment-based model, similar to vaccine adoption, and there was a rush to get them.

The United States still lags behind a number of nations including Canada, China, France, Japan, Spain, and Singapore in terms of the percentage of the population fully vaccinated.

The government of Biden is trying to make vaccination easier. In his remarks Thursday on combating the Delta and Omicron variants, President Joe Biden said the government would set up hundreds of family vaccination clinics, vaccination one-stop shops and boosters. Partners in a federal pharmacy program, including large chains such as CVS and Rite Aid, will also provide “family-based scheduling” in the coming months, according to the White House.

Since the advent of the Omicron variant, the CDC has stepped up its booster guide, requiring everyone 18 and over to get one six months after a Pfizer or Moderna series, or two months after a Johnson and Johnson shot.

Dr. Leana Wen, a professor of public health at George Washington University, said there were some parts of the country where vaccines were phasing out because demand was low and others where the lines were longer than before you because of greater demand Month.

But, she said, the demand will likely wear off in a few weeks.