Half of U.S. adults have obtained at least one COVID-19 shot

Half of most adults in the U.S. have received at least one COVID-19 shot, the federal government announced Sunday, marking another milestone in the nation’s largest-ever vaccination campaign but leaving more work to accomplish to convince skeptical Americans to roll-up their sleeves.

Almost 130 million persons 18 or older have obtained at least one dose of a vaccine, or 50.4% of the full total adult population, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Almost 84 million adults, or about 32.5% of the populace, have already been fully vaccinated.

The U.S. cleared the 50% mark only a day following the reported global death toll from the coronavirus topped an astounding 3 million, according to totals compiled by Johns Hopkins University, though using the number is thought to be significantly higher.

The country’s vaccination rate, at 61.6 doses administered per 100 people, currently falls behind Israel, that leads among countries with at least 5 million people with a rate of 119.2. The U.S. also trails the United Arab Emirates, Chile and the United Kingdom, which is vaccinating for a price of 62 doses per 100 people, according to your World in Data, an online research site.

The vaccine campaign offered hope in places like Nashville, Tennessee, where in fact the Music City Center bustled Sunday with vaccine seekers. Popular for appointment-only shots at the convention center has leveled off enough that walk-ins will be welcome starting this week.

Amanda Grimsley, who received her second shot, said she’s prepared to see her 96-year-old grandmother, who lives in Alabama and has been nervous about obtaining the vaccine after having a bad reaction to a flu shot.

“It’s just a little emotional. I haven’t had the opportunity to see my grandmother in a year and a half almost,” said Grimsley, 35. “And that’s the longest my entire family has ever gone without seeing her. And we’ll be seeing her in mid-May now.”

The states with the best vaccination rates have a history of voting Democratic and supporting President Joe Biden in the 2020 election: New Hampshire at the top, with 71.1%, accompanied by New Mexico, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine, CDC data show.

The demand is not the same in lots of regions of Tennessee - particularly, rural ones.

Tennessee sits in the bottom four states for rates of adults getting at least one shot, at 40.8%. It’s trailed only by Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi - three other Southern states that lean Republican and voted for Donald Trump last fall.

Vaccination rates usually do not always align with how states vote. But polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research has displayed trends that link political leanings and attitudes about the vaccines and other pandemic-related issues.

A poll conducted in late March discovered that 36% of Republicans said they'll probably or not at all get vaccinated, weighed against 12% of Democrats. Similarly, a third of rural Americans said they were leaning against getting shots, while less than a fourth of people residing in cities and suburbs shared that hesitancy.

Overall, willingness to get vaccinated has risen, polling shows.

In January, 67% of adult Americans were ready to get vaccinated or had already received at least one shot. The figure has climbed to 75%, in line with the latest AP-NORC poll.

Nationwide, 24% of Black Americans and 22% of Hispanic Americans say they'll probably or definitely not get vaccinated, down from 41% and 34% in January, respectively. Among white Americans, 26% now say they will not get vaccinated. In January, that number was 31%.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert, said the target is to get community figures, from athletes to clergy, to motivate vaccinations, particularly as the seven-day national average of cases remains over 60,000 new infections each day.

“What we are doing is we’re trying to get, by a community core, trusted messages that anyone would feel comfortable with listening to, whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat, an independent or whomever you are, that you’re comfortable,” Fauci said Sunday on ABC's “This Week.”

Fauci also indicated Sunday that the federal government will likely move to resume make use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine this week, possibly with restrictions or broader warnings after reports of some very rare blood clot cases.

In some news show interviews, Fauci said he expects a decision when advisers to the CDC meet Friday to go over the pause in J&J’s single-dose vaccine.

“I'd be very surprised if we don’t have a resumption in a few form by Friday,” he said. "I don’t really anticipate that they’re going to want to buy stretch it out a little longer.”

Fauci, who is President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said he believed federal regulators could bring the shots back with limits based on age or gender, or with a blanket warning, therefore the vaccine is administered in ways “a bit unique of we were prior to the pause.”

The J&J vaccine was thrown into limbo after the CDC and the meals and Drug Administration said the other day that they needed more evidence to choose if a handful of unusual blood clots were from the shot - and if so, how big the risk is.

The reports are rare - six cases out of more than 7 million U.S. inoculations with the J&J vaccine. The clots were within women between your ages of 18 and 48. One individual died.

Authorities stressed that they have found no sign of clot problems with the hottest COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. - from Moderna and Pfizer.