A CNN analysis has revealed that around 12% to as much as a third of the US population currently have some degree of Covid-19 protection.
According to CNN analysis, about 12% to around a third of the US population currently have some form of protection against Covid-19, ranging from vaccination coverage to natural immunity from recovering from a previous infection.
Covid-19 protection
Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that approximately 6% of the US population have received a Covid-19 vaccine. Around 20 million people have been vaccinated with at least one dose while over 3.8 million people are fully vaccinated.
Trials have shown that even a single dose of the two-dose regimen can provide partial protection against the virus.
In addition, studies have also demonstrated that people who recover from Covid-19 are largely immune to the virus for a period of time.
Covid infection provides immunity for at least five months, according to a new study led by Public Health England (PHE).
Findings magnified the link between past infection and an 83% lower risk of reinfection, compared to people who have not been contracted the virus before.
However, researchers stressed that the protection was not absolute, meaning some individuals can be infected again and that how long any immunity lasts remains uncertain. People who have a degree of immunity against the virus could still carry the virus in their nose or throat and infect others.
On the other hand, the CDC estimates that only a fraction of the actual total number of Covid-19 cases are reported in the US. According to the CDC, total cases may have exceeded 83 million through December and with the additional 5 million cases this month, more than a quarter of the US population may actually be protected from Covid-19 after recovering from infection.
Improving vaccination in the US
The Biden administration aims to improve the distribution of vaccines by injecting more funds into local and state officials, setting up more vaccination sites, and implementing a national public education campaign, according to his Covid response plan presented Thursday. Biden previously said that his administration will aim to administer 100 million vaccine shots in its first 100 days.
His appointed health officials are not also happy with the state of the federal vaccine distribution plan.
“What we’re inheriting from the Trump administration is so much worse than we could have imagined,” Jeff Zients, Biden’s coordinator for the Covid response, told reporters. “We have to vaccinate as much of the U.S. population as possible to put this pandemic behind us, but we don’t have the infrastructure,” he added.
Retailer Walmart will expand its Covid-19 vaccinations to more states as part of the administration’s initiative to accelerate distribution.
Walmart, which has been conducting Covid-19 vaccinations in recent weeks at some of its stores in New Mexico and Arkansas, will now be rolling out the vaccine to select locations in New Jersey, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, South Carolina and Texas, as well as in Chicago, and Puerto Rico.
In a blog post, Walmart wrote that it aims to administer 10 million to 13 million doses of vaccine monthly, “when supply and allocations allow,” across its over 5,000 pharmacies in the US and Puerto Rico.
Amazon has also pledged to help in broadening the vaccine distribution but asked President Biden to prioritize its workers in the vaccine distribution plans.
