US Hits New COVID-19 Milestone With Half Of Adults Fully Vaccinated

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its COVID-19 vaccination data, revealing that half of the adults in the United States are now fully vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The news comes amid renewed efforts to get more people vaccinated as demand for the product slips. A significant number of teenagers have also been vaccinated.

As of May 25, the CDC revealed that 50-percent of people 18 years and older in the United States have been fully vaccinated against the virus, while 61.6-percent have received at least one dose of the vaccine. The 50-percent figure represents more than 129 million people, including around 40 million who are ages 65 years or older.

This is a big milestone for the US, but officials have expressed concerns about a decrease in demand for the vaccine. While some states — mostly in the Northeastern region of the US — have vaccinated significant portions of their populations, other states, particularly in the Southern region, are still lagging behind.

The White House has taken steps to incentive the public by offering various opportunities and perks for those who get vaccinated. For example, the Biden administration recently announced a partnership with Lyft and Uber that enables anyone to get a free ride to their vaccine appointment.

As well, multiple major dating sites have introduced things like vaccination status filters and badges for dating profiles, helping vaccinated people avoid matching with those who aren't vaccinated. Some individual states have also tried offering incentives to boost vaccination rates.

Ohio, for example, introduced a lottery that will award a handful of vaccinated people $1 million from COVID-19 funds. Despite these incentives, some public health officials have expressed concerns that many people remain apathetic toward getting the vaccine, while a percentage of people avoid it entirely due to anti-vax misinformation.