- Half of Americans are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, the White House said.
- COVID-19 data director Cyrus Shahpar tweeted that the US reached the milestone on Friday.
- The newly vaccinated seven-day average is up 11% from last week and 44% over the past two weeks, Shahpar said.
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The US hit a major milestone Friday as half of Americans are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, the White House said.
White House COVID-19 data director Cyrus Shahpar said in a tweet that 50% of all Americans have now been inoculated against the virus.
-Cyrus Shahpar (@cyrusshahpar46) August 6, 2021
More than 821,000 vaccine doses were reported administered over the previous day's total, including 565,000 people who got their first jab, according to Shahpar.
Additionally, the seven-day average of those newly vaccinated is up 11% from last week and 44% over the past two weeks, the official said.
"Keep going!" Shahpar said in the tweet.
Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still read that 49.9% of all Americans had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of midday Friday.
The CDC tracker said more than 165 million people are fully vaccinated, and at least 193 million Americans have received at least one dose. Public health experts continue to encourage everyone 12 and up to get their shots against the coronavirus, especially as the more contagious Delta variant spreads across the US - particularly in areas where vaccinations are low.
On Thursday, the US reported at least 109,000 new cases of COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.