Nearly 33 million people in the United States have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to national vaccination data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of Tuesday. That is about 10% of the U.S. population.
As of Tuesday morning, the nation has delivered over 43.2 million doses of either the Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)-BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX) or Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) vaccine, which are the only vaccines approved for emergency use in the U.S. at this time. Moreover, 9.8 million people have received both doses of either vaccine, which the vaccines require to be over 95% effective at preventing severe viral infection. The C.D.C. notes that nearly 62.9 million vaccines have been distributed throughout the country.
While the nation's vaccination campaign in improving, progress varies state by state. Alaska is leading all other states, with over 15% of residents having received at least one shot, followed by Connecticut, New Mexico, North Dakota, and West Virginia, with over 10% of states' population receiving at least one dose. States lagging behind the rest of the country include Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.
According to a new C.D.C. study published on Tuesday, over 49% of adult Americans surveyed stated that they are absolutely certain or very likely to receive a coronavirus vaccine when available, up from only 39.4% surveyed back in September. Additionally, between September and December, fewer people stated that they do not intend to get a vaccine at all, falling from 38.1% to 32.1%.
"Although confidence in COVID-19 vaccines increased during September-December 2020 in the United States, additional efforts to tailor messages and implement strategies to further increase the public's confidence, overall and within specific subpopulations, are needed," the study's researchers wrote.
The C.D.C. surveyed over 3,500 adults in September and more than 2,000 adults in December, but only 123 people completed both surveys, according to the study.
Despite the increased vaccination efforts and overall confidence increasing, the U.S. still faces a massive outbreak throughout the nation as the virus silently spreads.
C.D.C. Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky stated during a press conference on Monday that the new, highly contagious variants of the coronavirus could reverse the recent improvement in daily coronavirus cases and hospitalization rates.
As of Sunday, the federal agency has identified 690 cases of the strain first discovered in the United Kingdom, B.1.1.7, Walensky stated, according to CNBC. The C.D.C. has also identified six cases of the South African variant, B.1.351, and three cases of P.1, the variant from Brazil. Many of these cases were found in Americans with no prior travel histories, signaling that they may be spreading through communities undetected.
To combat the spread of variants, the C.D.C. is working to find more cases, according to Walensky, with federal and state officials increasing their use of genome sequencing exponentially over the last few weeks.