Maddy Yoo, 12, is inoculated with Pfizer’s vaccine at Dekalb Pediatric Center in Decatur, Georgia, May 11, 2021.
Christopher Aluka Berry | Reuters
U.S. coronavirus case counts fell further on Wednesday, with the nationwide average now at about 36,700 per day over the past week, data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows. That’s the lowest level of average daily cases since Sept. 14.
The U.S. is reporting an average of 2.2 million daily vaccinations over the past seven days and more than 46% of the country’s population has received one shot or more, according to federal data.
The vaccination numbers may get a boost in the coming weeks as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday signed off on expanded usage of Pfizer and BioNTech‘s vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds, clearing the way for pediatricians to start giving out the shots across the country as early as Thursday.
U.S. Covid cases
Case counts in the U.S. have dropped sharply over the past few weeks, with the country now seeing nearly half as many cases per day as the most recent high point just one month ago. The latest seven-day average of daily cases is about 36,700, compared to more than 71,000 in mid-April, according to Hopkins data.
Daily case counts have declined by 5% or more in more than 40 states over the past week.
U.S. Covid deaths
The latest seven-day average of U.S. Covid deaths is 618 per day, Hopkins data shows. That’s down 9% from a week ago.
U.S. vaccine shots administered
About 2.2 million vaccinations are being reported each day in the U.S., based on a seven-day average of CDC data.
The pace of daily shots is down from a high point of 3.4 million per day in mid-April as many of those most eager and able to get a shot have already done so. The daily average has picked up slightly in recent days, up from just under 2 million on Saturday.
The approval of use of the Pfizer shot for kids could provide a boost to the daily vaccination numbers in the coming days and weeks.
U.S. share of the population vaccinated
About 46% of Americans have received at least one vaccine shot and 35% are fully vaccinated, CDC data shows.
