Cullen Veasley (17) receives his second dose (COVID-19 vaccine) at a mobile vaccination clinic hosted jointly by the Detroit Health Department and the Detroit Public Schools District at Renaissance High School, Detroit, Michigan, July 26, 2021.According to data released Monday by the CDC about seventy percent of U.S. adults had received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine. This is just one month less than President Joe Biden's goal for Fourth of July.Federal health officials see the 70% goal Biden set in May as a critical step towards achieving so-called "herd immunity", when enough people live in a community to have antibodies against a particular disease.The milestone is significant for the country, but it should be viewed as a floor and not a ceiling, experts in health say."We must have at least 80% of our population vaccinated in order to have any form of herd immunity," Dr. Paul Offit (a voting member of Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee) stated in a recent interview. This is a very contagious virus.Dr. Natasha Bhuyan is a Phoenix family physician who said that although the national vaccination rate of 70% is remarkable, it's still concerning to see low rates in local communities.She said that even if America is at 70% or 75%, it will still be dangerous for America to continue to have neighborhoods and ZIP codes at 40 or 50 percent. They could become hot spots and spread diseases. "Even though we may have reached the 70% milestone, it is something we should be proud of. However, we must also remember to celebrate with caution."Nearly a week ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its data. This comes after it reversed course on prior guidance and suggested that fully vaccinated Americans living in areas with high Covid infection rates wear face masks indoors. CNBC estimates that the guidelines apply to about two-thirds (or more) of the U.S. population.The delta variant is most severe for unvaccinated individuals, but some people inoculated with the virus could have higher levels than previously thought and be able to transmit it, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC Director, said last week. She said that the variant behaves differently to previous strains of the virus.U.S. health officials believe that the Covid vaccines manufactured in the U.S. by Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Pfizer-BioNTech are highly protective against this variant, particularly against severe disease and death. However, vaccinations have slowed in the United States in recent months.According to the CDC, the average number of vaccinations in the country is 660,000 per day, as of Sunday. This is far below the peak level of more than 3,000,000 daily shots in mid April, but it's up 14% compared to one week ago.As new people get their first shots, the number of first doses has increased faster than the overall rate over recent days. According to the CDC, an average of 432,000 first vaccine doses were administered each day for the past seven days. This is 24% more than a week ago. CNBC's analysis revealed that the states with the highest vaccination rates and the worst outbreaks see the greatest increases in the number of first doses.The rates of vaccination vary across the country. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia had reached the 70% mark of adults who received one shot, according to CDC data. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Connecticut are all within the 80% range.Other states are worse off, with 12 having fewer than 60% of adults who have had at least one shot. Mississippi has the lowest rate at 50%, followed by Wyoming, 52.2%, and Louisiana, 53.6%.Some state and local officials offer incentives for getting vaccinated, or enforce mandates to increase the number of shots given.Biden asked state and local officials to give $100 cash to residents last week as an incentive to get vaccinated. This is his latest effort to get more Americans vaccinated.Biden called on all school districts to host vaccination clinics within the next few weeks. He also directed federal pharmacy program partners, to work with schools. Biden also announced that the Covid reimbursement program which reimbursed small and medium-sized businesses for providing paid leave to their employees to get vaccinated would be extended to include family members.This report was contributed by Kevin Breuninger, CNBC.
