Half of U.S. adults have received at least one Covid shot in milestone for vaccination campaign

Half of all U.S. adults have now received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marking a major milestone in the country’s largest vaccine campaign.

More than 129 million people ages 18 and older have received at least one shot, or 50.4% of the total adult population, according to the CDC. More than 83 million adults, or 32.5% of the total adult population, are fully vaccinated with one of the three vaccines approved in the U.S.

The milestone comes one day after the global death toll from the virus topped 3 million people, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University, with global deaths averaging about 12,000 each day.

In the U.S., the rate of daily new Covid-19 cases nationwide remains high. The country is reporting about 68,000 new infections each day on average. CDC data shows an average of 3.3 million daily vaccine doses reported administered in the past week.

White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients has said the pause in Johnson & Johnson vaccinations, which occurred after reports of six cases of rare brain blood clots, would not slow down the vaccine campaign since the country has enough supply of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday he thinks the U.S. will likely resume use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine with a warning or restriction attached and anticipates a decision as soon as Friday, when the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel meets to discuss resumption.

“My estimate is that we will continue to use it in some form,” Fauci said during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I doubt very seriously if they just cancel it. I don’t think that’s going to happen.”