NOVEMBER 25, 2021
An employee recieves a vaccination against COVID-19 from a National Guard soldier at a pop-up vaccination stand at the Vermont Creamery in Websterville, Vermont on June 29, 2021. – Vermont — known for Bernie Sanders, the first Ben and Jerry’s and golden fall foliage — is America’s most-vaccinated state against COVID-19.
The five most vaccinated states in the United States—Vermont, Rhode Island, Maine, Connecticut and Massachusetts—are all experiencing surges in new COVID-19 cases, as the Biden administration urges people over 50 to get their booster jabs.
Vermont, which is the most vaccinated state, with 73 percent of its population fully jabbed, saw an 18 percent rise in new daily COVID cases over the last 14 days before November 24, according to New York Times data.
The northeastern state recorded an average of 370 new COVID-19 cases a day over the past week before Wednesday.
Newsweek has contacted the state’s Governor’s office for comment.
Rhode Island, which is 72 percent vaccinated, saw a 69 percent rise in new cases during that same 14-day time period. The state recorded an average of 480 new cases a day between November 17-24.
Maine, also 72 percent vaccinated, saw a 35 percent rise (now 694 daily average of new cases), while Connecticut, which is 72 percent vaccinated, saw a 120 percent spike in daily COVID cases (now 751 daily average of new cases).
Massachusetts, which is 71 percent vaccinated, saw a rise of 81 percent during the last 14 days before November 24. On average, it has recorded 2,881 cases a day between November 17-24.
On Tuesday, the U.S. recorded 100,636 new cases of COVID-19, according to the Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC).
National daily cases have been rising since October 24, the data shows, where only 23,596 cases were reported. In the past two weeks, the seven-day daily average of new cases increased nearly 30 percent, according to CDC figures.
Sixty-nine percent of all Americans aged 12 and older have had two shots of the vaccine—equivalent to 196.2 million people, according to the CDC.
Roughly 1 in 10 Americans have had their COVID booster vaccine as new cases of the virus continue to rise nationally, and look set to continue to rise after the Thanksgiving holiday break.
On November 19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and CDC gave all adults the green light to get a booster shot six months after their second dose of an mRNA vaccine, or two months after getting Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine.
Later that day, the U.S. offered booster shots to all adults and encouraged people over 50 to get a booster.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) predicted millions of people would travel to be with family for Thanksgiving this week, despite the soaring COVID-19 infections across the country.
As of Wednesday this week, 10 cases of a new COVID variant that has a “really awful” combination of mutations that could possibly cause the virus to evade immunity was found in Botwana, South Africa and Hong Kong.
