Milestones associated with the pandemic are usually described as grim, but the US passed a more positive one Wednesday: Some 200 million people, around 60% of the population, are now fully vaccinated, the Washington Post reports. The 200 million mark was reached as worries about the omicron variant spurred more people to get vaccinated, though the daily rate remains well below its April peak, reports the New York Times. The CDC says around a quarter of eligible Americans have now received a booster shot.
The vaccination milestone comes as infections, hospitalizations, and deaths are rising—even in Northeast states with the country's highest vaccination rates. Hospitalization rates jumped 10% in the last week, per the Post, and the omicron variant has been detected in at least 21 states. The CDC says current vaccines and boosters "are expected to protect against severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths" from the variant, though it may be more infectious than the delta variant, which would lead to a rise in reinfections and breakthrough infections.
In Vermont, where 74% of the population is vaccinated, new cases are at record levels, and 90% of the COVID patients in intensive care units are unvaccinated. Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO Collaborating Center on Public Health Law and Human Rights at Georgetown University, tells the AP that the virus is like a wildfire. "You can clear a forest of the shrubbery. But if you leave some shrubs and trees standing, the fire will find them," he says. "The virus will find you. It is searching for hosts that are not immune. The fact that you live in New England or New York doesn’t insulate you." (Pfizer says a third dose of its vaccine can "neutralize" omicron.)
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