A new report shows that a vast majority of coronavirus deaths in the United States are among people who are not vaccinated. The Associated Press analyzed all available government data from May 2021 and found that 18,000 people had died from COVID-19 over the course of the month. Of those, just 150 people were fully vaccinated, making up just 0.8% of the total.
During that time, 1,200 people were hospitalized with "breakthrough" cases of COVID-19, accounting for just 0.1% of the 835,000 hospitalizations.
The seven-day average number of deaths has fallen to just over 300 in the past week, down from a high of more than 3,200 in February.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said that it is imperative for people to get vaccinated as soon as possible to prevent further infections and deaths.
"Covid-19 vaccines are available for everyone ages 12 and up," Walensky said during a White House briefing. "They are nearly 100% effective against severe disease and death -- meaning nearly every death due to Covid-19 is particularly tragic, because nearly every death, especially among adults, due to Covid-19 is at this point entirely preventable."
While the U.S. continues to make progress in distributing vaccines, it appears unlikely the country will reach President Joe Biden's goal of vaccinating 70% of the population by July 4. As of Friday (June 25), more than 151 million people have been fully vaccinated, which is 45%.6 of the total population. The percentage of people who have received at least one dose stands at 53.7%.