More than 50% of Americans have at least one Covid vaccine shot as U.S. cases fall further

Anna Mendez, LPN, administers a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Vern Henderson at a clinic set up by Healthcare Network on May 20, 2021 in Immokalee, Florida.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

More than 50% of the U.S. population has received one Covid vaccine shot or more, federal data shows, as nationwide case counts continue to fall.

Moderna on Tuesday applied for full Food and Drug Administration approval of its Covid-19 vaccine. Surveys have shown that FDA approval could inspire more people to receive the vaccine, which is currently on the U.S. market under an emergency use authorization.

The seven-day average of daily new infections fell below 20,000 on Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, though many states did not report data due to the Memorial Day holiday.

U.S. share of the population vaccinated

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that 50.5% of Americans have received at least one vaccine dose with about 41% fully vaccinated.

Among those aged 18 and older, roughly 63% have received one vaccine dose or more. President Joe Biden has set a goal of getting that figure to 70% by July 4.

U.S. Covid cases

25 states and territories did not publish Covid data on Monday due to the Memorial Day holiday, according to Hopkins, bringing the seven-day average of daily infections to below 20,000 for the first time since the early days of the pandemic.

Cases may tick upward in the coming days as states report backlogged data from the holiday.

Prior to the holiday weekend, U.S. case counts had been trending downward for weeks.

U.S. vaccine shots administered

The latest seven-day average of vaccines administered, which is also impacted by the lack of holiday weekend data, sits at 1.3 million shots administered.

Moderna on Tuesday applied for full Food and Drug Administration approval of its Covid-19 vaccine. Surveys have shown that FDA approval could inspire more people to receive the vaccine, especially among those who say they are hesitant to receive the vaccine.

U.S. Covid deaths

The latest seven-day average of U.S. Covid deaths is 607, Hopkins data shows, which reflects the absence of Memorial Day reporting for many states and territories.

The latest trend in the daily U.S. death toll is further complicated by audits in which state health departments will attribute a batch of previously unreported cases or deaths to a single day, even if those may have occurred previously. Oklahoma and Maryland, last week, each added hundreds of deaths to their pandemic totals, all of which were reported for a single day.