Nolan Fans

Covid-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations have been declining in the United States. On May 26, the U.S. case rate, or seven-day average of new confirmed cases per 100,000 residents, was lower than at any point in the past 11 months.

But in some parts of the country, that rosy picture hides the strength of the pandemic among unvaccinated people. For example, Washington state’s overall case rate is close to the U.S. average when cases are measured across the state’s entire population.

Half the U.S. population is vaccinated, however — and they are mostly protected from infection. In Washington, if we remove vaccinated people from the population used to determine the case rate, the numbers paint a more realistic picture of Washington’s cases among unvaccinated people.

These adjusted numbers paint a far less optimistic picture: Washington’s case rate among unvaccinated people is as high as it was in late January, near the peak of Covid infections.

Nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. now are in people who weren’t vaccinated, a staggering demonstration of how effective the shots have been and an indication that deaths per day — now down to under 300 — could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the vaccine.

However, the administration did come close to its goal of vaccinating 160 million adults by the holiday -- 157 million adults were fully vaccinated as of Saturday, federal data shows.

CBS News reported, “The Delta variant now accounts for more than half of the new coronavirus cases in the United States —52%. Almost all of the new cases — 99.7% —are among people who have not been vaccinated…The effort comes as cases are rising in 26 states. Hospitalization rates are up in 17 states — 27% in Florida, almost exclusively among the unvaccinated. ”