Vaccination rates across the country have dropped to new lows in the past few weeks, threatening President Joe Biden’s goal of providing at least one dose to 70% of American adults by July 4th.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on June 3 that 63% of adults had received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, up slightly from 62% the week before.
In twelve states, including Utah, Oklahoma, Montana, Dakotas, and West Virginia, vaccinations have dropped to 15 daily vaccinations for 10,000 residents; In Alabama, only four people were vaccinated for every 10,000 residents last week, according to data from The Washington Post.
The “low hanging fruit – those who dare to get vaccinated without you telling them” have already been vaccinated, which has slowed it down, said Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s leading infectious disease expert, on a White House-organized call with community leaders on Friday, according to the Post.
The White House has already made plans to combat the slowdown. Biden announced a month-long effort to encourage more Americans to roll up their sleeves for a shot last week.
Also on the news:
►A report by the Pew Charitable Trusts said 29 states have recovered from an initial sharp drop in tax revenue to take in as much or more during the pandemic peak from March 2020 to February 2021 than they did in the previous 12 months.
►New coronavirus cases across the country have dropped to an average of about 15,000 per day, while deaths have dropped to about 430 per day – a level not seen since the World Health Organization’s March 11, 2020 pandemic declaration.
► The UK Health Secretary says the Delta variant, which is rapidly becoming the dominant coronavirus variant in the UK, is 40% more transmissible compared to the country’s existing strains. He admitted Sunday that the surge in Delta variant cases could delay the government’s plan to lift most of the remaining lockdown restrictions on June 21.
►In times of the COVID-19 pandemic, many parents have tired of overseeing their children’s online classes, longed for the schools to reopen. Then vaccines expanded, schools reopened in many cities, and teachers returned – but many students didn’t.
📈 Today’s numbers: There are more than 33.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 597,600 deaths in the United States. according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The world totals: over 173.1 million cases and over 3.72 million deaths. More than 138.9 million Americans have been fully vaccinated – 41.9% of the population, according to CDC.
📘 What we read: What does the end of COVID-19 look like in America? Maybe no end at all, but a resigned acceptance of a tolerable level of death. Read the full story.
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“No Excuses”: Mississippi is the last in the nation for people to be fully vaccinated
Mississippi health officer Thomas Dobbs has been pleading with Mississippi residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19 for months. During a discussion on Friday afternoon, he stated: It is unacceptable that Mississippi is the last in the country for fully vaccinated people.
From Friday afternoon, over 911,000 people were fully vaccinated in Mississippi, or 29% of the population. But it lags behind the national average of 41%.
“There’s no excuse for that,” Dobbs said during the livestream conversation with the Mississippi State Medical Association. “I will personally go to your house to give you one.”
Dobbs repeated it for several weeks: Mississippi supporters will either be vaccinated against the virus or they will suffer from its effects.
– Sarah Haselhorst, Mississippi Clarion-Ledger
Group work in rural Georgia to help others vaccinate against COVID-19
A growing group of volunteers are going door-to-door helping people vaccinate against COVID-19 and answering questions people of Randolph County have about the pandemic. The four who began the effort built on their experience in electing the Randolph County Democratic Committee. What began as a deliberate attempt to enroll seniors for the vaccine without internet grew into a major operation that involved hundreds of other doors being hit.
Randolph is one of the poorest counties in Georgia. The county’s rural demographics make residents more susceptible to coronavirus infection. According to the CDC, People in rural areas are at higher risk of being hospitalized. As for access, people without transportation or internet access cannot register or travel to get vaccinated.
This is how the group came into being Neighbor 2 neighbor occurs. Joyce Barlow said CNN that it’s not just about helping people get vaccinated, it’s also about listening to them and their concerns about COVID-19 and the vaccines.
“That’s what this is about. Neighbor by neighbor. Once we get herd or community immunity for all of our neighbors, it’s safe for all of us to go out. I know we’ve all been incarcerated,” Barlow told a Randolph County resident. “We want to protect everyone. After all, we are the guardians of our brothers and sisters.”
Milwaukee college students are working to break the COVID-19 vaccine barriers
When Sarah Farhan approached the people Eid al-Fitr festival in Milwaukeee last month and asked if they had already got the COVID-19 vaccine, many looked skeptical.
Then Farhan switched to speaking Arabic.
“Then they just exploded with words,” she said. “They said, ‘Oh, OK, can you tell me this and that?'”
Farhan, who will be attending the Medical College of Wisconsin this fall, was working as a vaccine instructor for the in her new summer job Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition.
The coalition hired eight college students who speak common languages such as Arabic, Somali, Rohingya and Urdu in the Milwaukee Muslim community. You want to encourage reluctant people to get the vaccine while allaying fears and misinformation about it.
“Being able to communicate in the language they are most familiar with creates a feeling of comfort and familiarity, and I think there is more confidence to get the vaccine,” said Women’s Coalition President Janan Najeeb.
– Sophie Carson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Contribution: The Associated Press
