80 Percent Of Americans Over 12 Have Been Vaccinated, Including More Than 99 Percent Of Elderly Americans

     Today is a landmark day in the fight to end COVID-19. 80 percent of Americans over the age of 12 have now officially gotten the first dose of the vaccine, which means 80 percent of Americans over 12 will be fully vaccinated against the virus by Christmas. 70 percent of Americans over age 12 already are. What a gift to the American people!

     There are some notable numbers within this broad categorization of vaccination rates, each of which gives us some more hope that we will see the end of the deadliest event in American history. The rate of seniors (65+) who have gotten vaccinated is now 99.9 percent, which is the highest rate of vaccination we can get and will leave the population of seniors with near-full immunity by the end of the year.

     Boosters are also significant, especially for these seniors. The first round of booster shots is available for more than 60 percent of Americans, including for those above 50 and with certain jobs and health conditions. Nearly 20 percent of Americans who have been fully vaccinated, including roughly half of seniors, have gotten their boosters. Meanwhile, the FDA is seeking approval for vaccine boosters for all Americans.

     With the vaccine rollout for kids, those at the opposite stage of life who are the most overlooked victims of the pandemic, the nationwide effort has gotten a huge boost. Thanks to the millions of kids who are getting vaccinated, the percentage of the total U.S. population that has gotten fully vaccinated has now passed 60 percent and the percentage with the first dose is past 70 percent. 

     COVID will not be beat unless we win in every state, but even here we are seeing breakthroughs. States like Texas, Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Iowa, and Alaska are finally starting to see their vaccination rates jump to be on par with the rest of the nation. We need to keep working to promote vaccines in the three regions with the highest hesitancy rates: the Appalachians, the Deep South, and the Yellowstone region.

     I set a goal a number of weeks ago of getting America to 83.33 percent fully vaccinated, of five out of six Americans, that I called the #FightForFive, and it appears we are on track to meet that goal before spring. I think we can even beat that: we need to aim to get 90 percent of Americans vaccinated. It may not happen, but we always need to shoot higher. Our next big fight needs to be reducing the hesitancy of parents, some of whom have even been vaccinated themselves, to vaccinate their five-to-11-year-old kids. If we can do this, we can beat COVID.

     For those millions who are already sick or will become sick as the total number of cases surpasses 50 million, President Biden has ordered 10 million Pfizer pills to prevent symptoms from getting worse and necessitating hospitalization. This is the first time we have seen such a two-pronged approach, and it could be a game changer. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and we need to sprint, not limp, toward it.