As the number of COVID-19 cases reported in the country jumped by 6.1 percent by Sept. 17 compared to the previous week, Americans were getting vaccinated at the lowest rate since July.
According to The Washington Post, the 272,000 doses that went out on average per day as of last Friday made it the lowest week for first dose vaccinations since July. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that the seven-day average of administered doses dropped by 1.6% as of Sept. 16.
“On Tuesday, fewer than 21,000 individuals were injected with their first shot, tentative figures from the CDC show, potentially making it the slowest day since Christmas,” said The Washington Post this week.
However, the outlet said the decreased vaccination rates may be due in part to the fact that 55 percent of Americans are already fully vaccinated and 64 percent have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. These rates are behind other vaccination rates globally, even though the U.S. has had access to vaccines since late last year.
While the CDC stresses that vaccines are the best way to prevent COVID-19 infections and the development of highly transmissible variants – such as the Delta variant, which has fueled transmission in the U.S. this summer – some people in the U.S. have been hesitant to get vaccinated. Some have also turned to other treatments, such as the anti-parasite drug ivermectin, that have not been proven effective in combating COVID-19.
Those who are unvaccinated face around 10 times the risk of being hospitalized with severe COVID-19 symptoms or dying from the virus, said a recent CDC study. Indeed, the areas of the country with the most hospitalizations and deaths also have low vaccination rates, according to The Washington Post.
For example, in Alabama, which has the fourth lowest vaccination rate in the nation, deaths have risen by 200 percent from last week. West Virginia had the highest hospitalization rate in the country and the lowest vaccination rate in the country.
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The CDC recommends that everyone aged 12 and older get vaccinated immediately if they are not already.
As the country continues to struggle with new COVID-19 cases, medical professionals are also concerned about the upcoming flu season, said The Washington Post. COVID-19 mitigations and lockdowns cut down on the number of flu cases last year, but relaxed restrictions, increased travel and the reopening of many schools could mean more cases this season.
“On any given day, between 85 to 90 percent of the hospitalized COVID-19 patients right now are unvaccinated,” Cindy Knall, a professor of immunology at the University of Alaska at Anchorage, said in an email to The Washington Post. The needs of those patients mean resources will be limited for flu patients who need hospital-level care, she added.
There are between 9.5 million to 45 million flu-related illnesses reported annually in the U.S., per CDC data.
“I’m trying to stay hopeful, so I won’t use the term dire, but things are not good here,” said Knall, who thinks that cases will be up again this year.
To prevent this “twindemic” situation, people should continue wearing masks and get both COVID-19 and flu vaccines.
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