Important update: Healthcare facilities
CDC has updated select ways to operate healthcare systems effectively in response to COVID-19 vaccination. Learn more
UPDATE
Given new evidence on the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, CDC has updated the guidance for fully vaccinated people. CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. Children should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with layered prevention strategies in place.
UPDATE
The White House announced that vaccines will be required for international travelers coming into the United States, with an effective date of November 8, 2021. For purposes of entry into the United States, vaccines accepted will include FDA approved or authorized and WHO Emergency Use Listing vaccines. More information is available here.
UPDATE
Travel requirements to enter the United States are changing, starting November 8, 2021. More information is available here.

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Interpretive Summary for January 21, 2022

Are You Up to Date?

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to increase, driven by the Omicron variant. CDC’s COVID Data Tracker shows that, as of January 20, 2022, more than 209 million people have received their primary series* of a COVID-19 vaccine and are considered fully vaccinated. More than 82 million people are up to date on their vaccines, which means they have received all recommended COVID-19 vaccines, including boosters.

Three reports released this week highlight the importance of getting vaccinated and boosted to protect against severe COVID-19 associated with the Delta and Omicron variants.1,2,3 COVID Data Tracker shows that, as of January 20, 2022, 53.2% of booster-eligible people in the United States have not received their booster dose. That represents a total of 86 million people. CDC recommends everyone ages 5 years and older get their primary series of a COVID-19 vaccine and receive a booster dose when eligible. Find a vaccine and get your booster dose as soon as you can.

Masking is another crucial way to protect yourself and others. Last week, CDC updated its mask recommendations to show that well-fitting NIOSH-approved respirators (including N95s) offer the most protection against COVID-19. Any mask is always better than none, but whatever mask you choose should fit well and be comfortable enough to wear correctly and consistently. Learn how to get the best protection from your mask by visiting CDC’s Improve How Your Mask Protects You page.

*Primary series completion is defined as receipt of 2 vaccine doses for someone who received a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, or receipt of 1 dose for someone who received a Janssen/Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

Reported Cases

As of January 19, 2022, the current 7-day moving average of daily new cases (744,616) decreased 5.0% compared with the previous 7-day moving average (783,922). A total of 68,671,563 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the United States as of January 19, 2022.

Currently two variants, Omicron and Delta, are classified as Variants of Concern (VOC) in the United States. CDC Nowcast projections* for the week ending January 15, 2022, predict the national proportion of Omicron to be 99.5% (95% PI 99.3-99.7%) and Delta to be 0.5% (95% PI 0.3-0.7%). Omicron is predicted to be greater than 96% in all HHS regions.

68,671,563
Total Cases Reported

68,671,563
Total Cases Reported

744,616
Current 7-Day Average**

744,616
Current 7-Day Average**

783,922
Prior 7-Day Average

783,922
Prior 7-Day Average

-5.0%
Change in 7-Day Average since Prior Week 

-5.0%
Change in 7-Day Average since Prior Week 

*The median time from specimen collection to sequence data reporting is about 3 weeks. As a result, weighted estimates for the most recent few weeks may be unstable or unavailable. CDC’s Nowcast is a data projection tool that helps fill this gap by generating timely estimates of variant proportions for variants that are circulating in the United States. View Nowcast estimates on CDC’s COVID Data Tracker website on the Variant Proportions page. 

**Historical cases are excluded from daily new cases and 7-day average calculations until they are incorporated into the dataset for the applicable date. Of 410,175 historical cases reported retroactively, 57,497 were reported in the current week and none were reported in the prior week.

Daily Trends in COVID-19 Cases in the United States Reported to CDC

red line

7-Day moving average

A bar graph showing daily trends in COVID-19 cases in the United States and a line with the 7-day moving average.

Vaccinations

The U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Program began December 14, 2020. As of January 20, 2022, 531.9 million vaccine doses have been administered in the United States. Overall, about 250.0 million people, or 75.3% of the total U.S. population, have received at least one dose of vaccine. About 209.8 million people, or 63.2% of the total U.S. population, have been fully vaccinated.* About 82.5 million additional or booster doses in fully vaccinated people have been reported; however, 53.2% of the total booster-eligible population has not yet received a booster dose. As of January 20, 2022, the 7-day average number of administered vaccine doses reported (by date of CDC report) to CDC per day was 1,094,988, a 15.2% decrease from the previous week.

CDC’s COVID Data Tracker Vaccination Demographic Trends tab shows vaccination trends by age group. As of January 20, 2022, 95.0% of people ages 65 years or older have received at least one dose of vaccine and 88.1% are fully vaccinated. For people ages 18 years or older, 87.2% have received at least one dose of vaccine and 73.7% are fully vaccinated. For people ages 12 years or older, 85.3% have received at least one dose of vaccine and 72.1% are fully vaccinated. For people ages 5 years or older, 80.1% have received at least one dose of vaccine and 67.2% are fully vaccinated.

531,864,871
Vaccines Administered

531,864,871
Vaccines Administered

250,028,635
People who received at least one dose

250,028,635
People who received at least one dose

209,842,610
People who are fully vaccinated*

209,842,610
People who are fully vaccinated*

75.3%
Percentage of the U.S. population that has received at least one dose

75.3%
Percentage of the U.S. population that has received at least one dose

63.2%
Percentage of the U.S. population that has been fully vaccinated*

63.2%
Percentage of the U.S. population that has been fully vaccinated*

+0.8
Percentage point increase from last week

+0.8
Percentage point increase from last week

+0.5
Percentage point increase from last week

+0.5
Percentage point increase from last week

*Represents the number of people who have received the second dose in a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine series (such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines) or one dose of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine.

Daily Change in the Total Number of Administered COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Reported to CDC by the Date of CDC Report, United States

red line

7-Day moving average

A bar graph showing the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered each day in the United States.

Hospitalizations

New Hospital Admissions

The current 7-day daily average for January 12–18, 2022, was 20,990. This is a 1.1% increase from the prior 7-day average (20,757) from January 5–11, 2022.

4,066,990
Total New Admissions

4,066,990
Total New Admissions

20,990
Current 7-Day Average

20,990
Current 7-Day Average

20,757
Prior 7-Day Average

20,757
Prior 7-Day Average

+1.1%
Change in 7-Day Average

+1.1%
Change in 7-Day Average

The start of consistent reporting of hospital admissions data was August 1, 2020.

Daily Trends in Number of New COVID-19 Hospital Admissions in the United States

A bar graph showing daily trends in number of new COVID-19 hospital admissions in the United States.

New admissions are pulled from a 10 am EST snapshot of the HHS Unified Hospital Timeseries Dataset. Due to potential reporting delays, data from the most recent 7 days, as noted in the figure above with the grey bar, should be interpreted with caution. Small shifts in historic data may also occur due to changes in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Provider of Services file, which is used to identify the cohort of included hospitals.

COVID-NET: Hospitalization Rates by Vaccination Status in Adults

CDC’s Coronavirus Disease 2019-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) shows that rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations in December 2021 were markedly higher in unvaccinated adults compared to fully vaccinated adults who have received additional or booster doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Among adults ages 50–64 years, the COVID-19-associated hospitalization rate in December among unvaccinated persons was 44 times higher than among those who were fully vaccinated and received an additional or booster dose. Among adults ages 65 years and older, compared to persons who were fully vaccinated and received an additional or booster dose, rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations were 49 times higher among unvaccinated adults.

Hospitalization Rates by Vaccination Status in Adults

chart of fully vaccinated with additional or booster dose, vs fully vaccinated without, vs unvaccinated. Rates per 100,000.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-Associate­­d Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) is an additional source for hospitalization data collected through a network of more than 250 acute-care hospitals in 14 states (representing ~10% of the U.S. population). Detailed data on patient demographics, including race/ethnicity, underlying medical conditions, medical interventions, and clinical outcomes, are collected with a standardized case reporting form.

More COVID-NET Data

Deaths

The current 7-day moving average of new deaths (1,749) has decreased 0.3% compared with the previous 7-day moving average (1,754). As of January 19, 2022, a total of 856,288 COVID-19 deaths have been reported in the United States.

856,288
Total Deaths Reported

856,288
Total Deaths Reported

1,749
Current 7-Day Average*

1,749
Current 7-Day Average*

1,754
Prior 7-Day Average

1,754
Prior 7-Day Average

-0.3%
Change in 7-Day Average Since Prior Week

-0.3%
Change in 7-Day Average Since Prior Week

*Historical deaths are excluded from the daily new deaths and 7-day average calculations until they are incorporated into the dataset by their applicable date. Of 19,981 historical deaths reported retroactively, 548 were reported in the current week; and 418 were reported in the prior week.

Daily Trends in Number of COVID-19 Deaths in the United States Reported to CDC

red line

7-Day moving average

A bar graph showing daily trends in number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States reported to CDC. More Death Data

Testing

The percentage of COVID-19 NAATs (nucleic acid amplification tests)* that are positive (percent positivity) is decreasing in comparison to the previous week. The 7-day average of percent positivity from NAATs is now 27.2%. The 7-day average number of tests reported for January 7 – January 13, 2022, was 2,176,938, down 1.4% from 2,207,754 for the prior 7 days.

756,536,186
Total Tests Reported

756,536,186 Total Tests Reported

756,536,186
Total Tests Reported

2,176,938
7-Day Average Tests Reported

756,536,186 Total Tests Reported

2,176,938
7-Day Average Tests Reported

27.2%
7-Day Average % Positivity

27.2%
7-Day Average % Positivity

28.9%
Previous 7-Day Average % Positivity

756,536,186 Total Tests Reported

28.9%
Previous 7-Day Average % Positivity

-1.73
Percentage point change in 7-Day Average % Positivity since Prior Week

-1.73
Percentage point change in 7-Day Average % Positivity since Prior Week

*Test for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19

COVID-19 NAAT Laboratory Test 7-day Percent Positivity by State/Territory

A map of the United States with each state shaded according to COVID-19 NAAT laboratory test 7-day percent positivity.