Washington: Nearly 60% of the US population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday morning, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The agency said 195,222,906 people, or 58.8% of the total population, have had at least one shot while 157,888,305 people, or 61.1% of the adult population, are fully vaccinated.
The United States had administered 351,933,175 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Monday morning and distributed 407,560,705 doses.
The CDC tally includes two-dose vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech , as well as Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine as of 6:00 a.m. ET on Monday.
Meanwhile, the CDC warned on Monday against travel to Israel, France, Thailand, Iceland and several other countries because of a rising number of COVID-19 cases in those nations.
The CDC has been adding to its highest “Level 4: Very High” COVID-19 level as cases spread around the globe. The United States added Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, along with other places, including Aruba and French Polynesia.
The US State Department also issued its parallel Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisories for Iceland and France on Monday.
In July, the CDC had raised concerns about Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, lifting its travel health notice by two levels to “Level 3: High.” The CDC also hiked alert levels to “Level 3: High” for Austria, Croatia, El Salvador, Azerbaijan, Guam, Kenya and Jamaica. The CDC says unvaccinated travelers should avoid nonessential travel to those countries.
A CDC advisory panel will meet on Friday to discuss considerations for booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines, as the United States deals with increasing cases from the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
The meeting of CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will also discuss updates on additional doses in immune compromised individuals. Israel has already started administering a third booster shot to people aged 60 and above after the country’s health ministry reported a decrease in the effectiveness of the Pfizer Inc vaccine in preventing infections and symptomatic illness.
Last month, top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said Americans who are immune compromised may end up needing COVID-19 vaccine booster shots.
