This was originally a Facebook post of mine from 2021-4-9, and is archived here as a curiosity. Minor changes to formatting, as well as basic copy-edits, may have been made in the transition from Facebook post to web format.
The news this week about the coronavirus is mostly encouraging. Three main ideas: (1) deaths are continuing to fall, (2) at least for the moment, cases don't seem to be rising any more, and (3) vaccines are becoming much more available.
(1) Deaths
The latest seven-day moving average of deaths is 663, down from 781 a week before. Good stuff. Deaths are about half the level they were a month ago.
(2) Cases
Cases over the last week average 64,393 per day, down just the tiniest shade from 64,520 the week before. It's not a huge drop, but it's not the rise we were seeing the two weeks before that. This is good.
(3) Vaccines
77% of adults over 65 have had at least one shot of the vaccine. 44% of adults in general have -- 114 million people, with over 11 million new people getting a first shot weekly. AP polling suggests that about 75% of Americans in total have had or will be willing to get a shot. That would mean another 79 million people are looking for shots, and at the present rate they could all have their first within seven weeks -- by the end of May.
If 75% of Americans are willing to get a shot, and 44% have already got one, that means the majority of Americans who will get a shot have gotten it -- not counting children. As there are less and less Americans chasing shots, it's getting easier and easier to get ahold of appointments.
Depending on how you define the word "eligible", either 38 or 39 states have made all adults eligible for vaccination. And the Connecticut Post reports that the available vaccines are beginning to outstrip the number of people signing up for them in Tennesee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Illinois, Kansas, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania. This is a glass-half-full, glass-half-empty moment for the country. On the upside, the supply of vaccines is more than keeping up with demand in a number of places. On the downside, the demand for vaccines is not keeping up with supply in a number of places.
But all in all, this is another sign that we're progressing toward the goal of getting the vaccine out to everyone who will take it. Nothing will be quite normal until everyone who wants to be protected from the virus gets that protection.
But that day is bearing down on us quickly.
Sources
Most vaccine statistics: CDC Covid Data Tracker.
States that have opened vaccine eligibility: US News and World Report.
States where supply is outstripping demand: Connecticut Post.
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