By the most important measures, America’s pandemic is trending in the right direction: New cases of coronavirus have been declining, as have deaths (in fact, Massachusetts, yesterday, recorded 0 deaths due to COVID). And the number of people in the country vaccinated against the virus goes up by millions every week. Add to that good news: The CDC’s endorsement today of Pfizer’s vaccine for use for 12 to 15-year olds. Adolescents are eligible for their shots starting tomorrow.
As of May 12, 154 million Americans—58.7% of adults, 84% of seniors, and 46.4% of the total population—had received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A week ago that number was 148.6 million. The fully-vaccinated population now stands at 117.6 million Americans, or 45.1% of adults and 35.4% of the total population.
In total, the nation has administered 264.7 million vaccines, all of which have been Pfizer and Modern’s mRNA vaccines aside from 9.3 million Johnson & Johnson shots.
In terms of progress with the vaccine rollout across the states, Vermont is the new leader in terms of the percent of residents vaccinated, at 62.8% of the population. All the states in New England, as well as Hawaii, have reached more than 60% of residents with at least one dose. In some states, the rates are much lower; Mississippi ranks at the bottom with 32.3% of its population vaccinated, up from 31.6% last week. Also below 35%: Louisiana and Alabama.
Share of the population that has received at least once shot
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