Covid Vaccine Senior Care
A CVS pharmacist gives the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to a resident at the Emerald Court senior living community in Anaheim, California.
Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images
  • Half of US seniors have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
  • Andy Slavitt, the White House COVID Response senior advisor, confirmed the milestone on Tuesday.
  • Seniors face the highest risk for death and hospitalization from COVID-19.
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The US has fully vaccinated half of all seniors against COVID-19.

Andy Slavitt, the White House COVID Response senior advisor, tweeted 50% of all seniors have now been fully vaccinated on Tuesday afternoon.

More than one in five adults over 18 have received a full dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday, while 28.9% of the total population have received at least one dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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There were more than 54 million US residents over 65-years-old as of July 1, 2019, according to the US Census Bureau. US seniors suffered the highest death tolls and hospitalizations from COVID-19. The rate of death is 1,100 times higher for people 65 to 74 compared to people between 5-years-old and 17-years-old, per the CDC.

The Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines require two doses given three to four weeks apart. The US authorized a third COVID-19 from Johnson & Johnson in February that requires just one dose.

President Joe Biden has set a goal of administering 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by his 100th day in office on April 30. He initially set a goal of 100 million doses in his first 100 days, but surpassed that milestone on March 19.

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