The hypercontagious Delta variant did something Joe Biden could not: convinced 70% of U.S. adults against COVID-19 on Monday.Biden initially set a goal to give at least one dose of vaccine to 70% of Americans over 18 by July 4. The U.S. was unable to meet his deadline due to widespread vaccine hesitancy, especially in conservative areas of the country.Delta seems to be breaking down some resistance.A health worker prepares the COVID-19 vaccine. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)The news that has recently been reported about Delta is almost all negative. It has led to more cases (up 150 percent nationally over the past 14 days), largely due to rapid spread in undervaccinated areas like Florida, Louisiana and Texas. Florida has seen an increase in hospitalizations. This is in addition to breaking its daily record that was set before vaccines became available. Although there have been fewer deaths than in previous waves, there have been more. There have been more transmissions and breakthrough infections among Americans vaccinated than expected. This has led to more mandates for local masks, a step backward.The one shining light, perhaps the only shining spot, has been vaccinations. The U.S. reported an additional 468,000 doses of vaccine Monday according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. This is enough to push the number Americans who have received at least one shot above 180 million. It is encouraging that this number caps four weeks of steady, but slow, gains in America's vaccination rate. This has increased from approximately 430,000 doses per person per day to about 550,000 doses each day over the past month.In the meantime, first doses have increased by 75 percent over the same time period. In the past two weeks, more than 5 million Americans were newly vaccinated. The best part is that these gains are concentrated in the states where Delta is most vulnerable. This strongly suggests that former COVID skeptics are now taking COVID seriously, and are deciding to protect others with a safe and effective vaccine.Continue the storyTake a look at the data. In Louisiana, COVID hospitalizations and cases have tripled over the past two weeks. However, Louisianans are starting vaccinations at a rate of more than 11,000 per day, up from 2,600 per day a month ago. This is the highest rate since mid April. Arkansas is also affected. Others hot spots like Texas, Florida, and Missouri are now vaccinating a greater number of people per day than they did in mid-May. Louisiana saw a 114% increase in vaccine uptake last week, while Arkansas saw an increase of 96 percent, Alabama, and Missouri by 65 percent. Missouri saw an increase of 49 percent.Our daily new administrations have doubled, and they are on track to quadruple or triple this week, Louisiana State Health Officer Joseph Kanter told Bloomberg. Everyone knows someone who's sick right now. People who aren't anti-vaxxers, but aren't really confident, are saying, I won't wait a day.This pattern is common across the country. The White House announced that last week was the third week in which the states with the most COVID cases had the highest number of vaccinations. A Bloomberg analysis revealed that the 20 percent of the countries that had been vaccinating slowly six weeks ago are now the leaders in the nation's number of people getting vaccinated each day. This is helping to drive a national trend towards more vaccinations.It is true that the laggard states in the Southern and Central regions of the U.S. have much to do before they can match the daily vaccination records set in March and April.Nurse Carlene Fleming gives a dose COVID-19 to a patient during a mobile vaccination event held in Orlando, Fla.Alabama (34%), Arkansas (36%), Louisiana (37%), Missouri (41%), and Texas (44%) are some of the states still far behind. Even though Florida has fully vaccinated 49% of its citizens, the counties currently suffering the most severe outbreaks have rates of 20-30% or less. This is a lot to cover.Delta may have a limit on the number of people who will be willing to get vaccinated. According to a Yahoo News/YouGov poll, 15 percent of Americans who were not vaccinated said that Deltas spread made them more likely get vaccinated. However, another 12 percent said that Deltas actually made them less likely. The full 73 percent of Americans who have never been vaccinated (51%) said that it did not make a difference.The Moderna or Pfizer vaccines don't provide full immunity until about five to six weeks after the initial dose. Delta is particularly good at evading partial immune so today's shots won't be enough to stop Americas vertiginous surge.It's better to be late than never, however. Every shot is a step towards the U.S. pandemic ending. Monday's news that the nation has reached a crucial milestone of undervaccinated states proves that even the most darkest cloudy days can be brightened by the dawning sun.____Yahoo News has more information:
