75% of U.S. adults have now received at least one COVID-19 shot, says CDC

Photo: Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images

The U.S. hit a new milestone this week as 75% of adults over the age of 18 have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Among the over-18 set, almost 194 million Americans have received a first dose, while close to 165 million people are fully vaccinated, good for 64.3% of that population.

The percentages increase the older the population subset. Slightly more than 73% of those ages 12 to 18 have received one shot (with 62.3% fully inoculated), while 92.4% of those older than 65 have received at least one dose. Among that age group, 82.1% are fully vaccinated.

The data also highlighted which states are faring better in terms of total doses administered per 100,000 people. Vermont leads the nation, with other New England states – Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut in particular – following closely behind.

The South and Midwest show the lowest rates of vaccination.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which was the first to receive full approval from the Food and Drug Administration, leads the pack in terms of total doses administered with more than 214 million shots delivered as of September 7. Moderna comes in second with 147 million-plus doses administered, followed by Johnson and Johnson, which has seen more than 14.5 million total doses administered.

The vaccine hierarchy holds true when examining the number of people fully vaccinated, with Pfizer at almost 96 million, Moderna at about 66 million and J&J at roughly 14 million.

WHAT’S THE IMPACT?

The numbers should come as some encouragement to the nation’s hospitals and health systems, which have been beleaguered by an influx of coronavirus patients, driven in large part by the highly transmissible Delta variant. 

These new surges are once more resulting in operational pressure for nonprofit hospitals in the U.S., which will likely affect margins in the near term, according to an August analysis from Fitch Ratings.

Operations and resources in these new coronavirus hotspots are being stretched more than at any prior time during the pandemic, according to the ratings agency, with hospitalization rates exceeding prior peaks and ICU beds at full capacity in some states.

And while some areas are worse than others, there are no regions that are unaffected: Hospitalizations are trending upward in all states.

What this means for hospitals, and nonprofits in particular, is that additional staffing and supplies will be needed to handle the new influx of COVID-19 patients. The greater number of patients is resulting in a self-induced postponement of nonemergent surgical cases, resulting in lower hospital revenues.

Additionally, hospitals and skilled nursing facilities are competing for a limited supply of nurses, including more expensive contract nursing staff.

THE LARGER TREND

The Pfizer/BioNTech offering received full FDA approval in August, and is now marketed as Comirnaty. 

The vaccine has been approved for the prevention of COVID-19 for those 16 years old and older. The vaccine also continues to be available under emergency use authorization, including for those 12 to 15, and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised patients.

Just last week, Moderna submitted data to the FDA for evaluation of a booster shot for its mRNA vaccine. 

The yet-to-be peer-reviewed data comes from a study of 344 individuals who received a third dose of the Moderna vaccine six months after their second shot. Moderna found that their antibodies had “waned significantly” before getting the booster shot, but the additional jab increased antibodies to an even higher level than the previous round.

Heightened protection was observed across age groups, but particularly in adults over the age of 65, according to Moderna. It also offered protection against “all variants of concern,” including the Delta variant.

Moderna’s vaccine received emergency use authorization last December and showed to be 94.1% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in its clinical trial.

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