Covid-19 Vaccinations Are Picking Up Pace, but New Cases Are Still Rising – The Wall Street Journal

The supply of Covid-19 vaccines in the U.S. is increasing with each week, and the pace of vaccinations is picking up. States are opening up eligibility for the vaccines sooner, too, allowing more Americans an opportunity to get the shot.

And yet with so many people getting vaccinatednearly 30% of all Americans have had at least one shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionthe number of new Covid-19 cases is on the rise.

Nationally, the seven-day average in cases has risen in recent weeks from over 53,000 cases a day to 65,000 cases. Thats down from the peak in early January, when the number of cases being recorded was more than 250,000, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. But an average of 65,000 cases is still considered high by epidemiologists, and is close to the height of the countrys second surge in July of 2020.

Federal officials have for weeks cautioned about a fourth surge of infections, saying that the U.S. is on a path to follow some other European countries that have seen recent spikes. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky spoke about her recurring feeling of impending doom at a White House press briefing Monday.

In interviews with epidemiologists and public-health officials across the country, common themes emerged that explain the rise in cases. Many cited a mixture of increase in infections among younger people, pandemic fatigue, mixed messaging on public-health measures with the rollback of restrictions, and the spread of more contagious variants.

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Covid-19 Vaccinations Are Picking Up Pace, but New Cases Are Still Rising - The Wall Street Journal