Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People
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Our Shot to End the Pandemic
Interpretive Summary for July 23, 2021
Our Shot to End the Pandemic
The United States is once again seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. As of July 22, 35% of U.S. counties are experiencing high levels of community transmission. COVID-19 cases are on the rise in nearly 90% of U.S. jurisdictions, and we are seeing outbreaks in parts of the country that have low vaccination coverage. These worrisome trends are due, in part, to the rapid spread of the highly transmissible B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant. An increase in the number of cases will put more strain on healthcare resources and could lead to more hospitalizations and deaths.
An increase in COVID-19 cases also creates more opportunities for the virus to mutate, which could lead to the emergence of new variants. Variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 are now responsible for all cases in the United States. The original strain is no longer detected among variants circulating throughout the country. The B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant is now the predominant variant in the United States, making up an estimated 83.2% of recent U.S. cases. The best way to slow the emergence of new variants is to reduce the spread of infection by taking measures to protect yourself, including getting a vaccine when it’s available to you.
COVID-19 is now a preventable disease. The COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the United States are safe and are effective against B.1.617.2 and other variants. If you receive a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, you will need 2 shots to get the most protection. You should get your second shot even if you have side effects after the first shot, unless a vaccination provider or your doctor tells you not to get it. If you are only partially vaccinated, you are more likely to get infected, get sick, and spread the virus to other people. When you are fully vaccinated, you are protected against severe illness, hospitalization, and death.
Note to readers: To find a vaccine provider near you, visit Vaccines.gov or your state or local public health department website. You can also text your zip code to 438829 to get 3 locations near you with vaccines in stock. If you prefer your information in Spanish, text your zip code to 822862. You can also call the National COVID-19 Vaccination Assistance Hotline at 1-800-232-0233 to get help in English, Spanish, and more than 150 other languages. It also has a TTY line to support access by hearing impaired callers. If you or someone you know is hesitant about COVID-19 vaccination, CDC has information and answers to frequently asked questions to help inform the decision.
Reported Cases
The current 7-day moving average of daily new cases (40,246) increased 46.7% compared with the previous 7-day moving average (27,443). The current 7-day moving average is 84.2% lower than the peak observed on January 10, 2021 (254,052), and is 250.6% higher than the lowest value observed on June 19, 2021 (11,480). A total of 34,248,054 COVID-19 cases have been reported as of July 21.
34,248,054
Total Cases Reported
34,248,054
Total Cases Reported
40,246
Current 7-Day Average*
40,246
Current 7-Day Average*
27,443
Prior 7-Day Average
27,443
Prior 7-Day Average
+46.7%
Change in 7-Day Average since Prior Week
+46.7%
Change in 7-Day Average since Prior Week
*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 75,699 historical cases reported retroactively, 1,469 were reported in the current week and 1,474 were reported in the prior week.
Daily Trends in COVID-19 Cases in the United States Reported to CDC

7-Day moving average
SARS-CoV-2 Variants
Multiple variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 are circulating globally, including within the United States. To date, four variants have been classified as a variant of concern (VOC). Nowcast estimates* of SARS-CoV-2 cases caused by these VOCs for the two weeks ending July 17 are summarized here. Nationally, the proportion of cases attributed to B.1.617.2 (Delta) is predicted to increase to 83.2%; B.1.1.7 (Alpha) proportion is predicted to decrease to 8.3%; P.1 (Gamma) proportion is predicted to decrease to 3.3%; and B.1.351 (Beta) is predicted to decrease to below 0.1%. Nowcast estimates predict that B.1.617.2 (Delta) will continue to be the predominant lineage circulating in all HHS regions and be more than 75% in eight HHS regions. B.1.1.7 (Alpha) is predicted to be less than 20% in all HHS regions. P.1 (Gamma) is predicted to be less than 7% in all HHS regions; and B.1.351 (Beta) is predicted to be less than or equal to 0.1% in all HHS regions.
*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.
Testing
The percentage of COVID-19 NAATs (nucleic acid amplification tests) that are positive (percent positivity) has increased from the previous week. The 7-day average of percent positivity from tests is now 5.8%. The 7-day average number of tests reported for July 09 – July 15 was 599,054 up 15.9% from 516,701 for the prior 7 days.
480,535,511
Total Tests Reported
480,535,511
Total Tests Reported
599,054
7-Day Average Tests Reported
599,054
7-Day Average Tests Reported
5.8%
7-Day Average % Positivity
5.8%
7-Day Average % Positivity
4.2%
Previous 7-Day Average % Positivity
4.2%
Previous 7-Day Average % Positivity
+36.0%
Change in 7-Day Average % Positivity since Prior Week
+36.0%
Change in 7-Day Average % Positivity since Prior Week
COVID-19 NAAT Laboratory Test 7-day Percent Positivity by State/Territory
Vaccinations
The U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Program began December 14, 2020. As of July 22, 339.8 million vaccine doses have been administered. Overall, about 187.2 million people, or 56.4% of the total U.S. population, have received at least one dose of vaccine. About 162.2 million people, or 48.8% of the total U.S. population, have been fully vaccinated.* As of July 22, the 7-day average number of administered vaccine doses reported (by date administered) to CDC per day was 291,565, a 35.2% decrease from the previous week.
The COVID Data Tracker Vaccination Demographic Trends tab shows vaccination trends by age group. As of July 22, 89.2% of people ages 65 or older have received at least one dose of vaccine and 79.6% are fully vaccinated. Just over two-thirds (68.6%) of people ages 18 or older have received at least one dose of vaccine and 59.7% are fully vaccinated. For people ages 12 or older, 65.9% have received at least one dose of vaccine and 57.1% are fully vaccinated.
339,763,765
Vaccines Administered
339,763,765
Vaccines Administered
187,216,168
People who received at least one dose
187,216,168
People who received at least one dose
162,174,165
People who are fully vaccinated*
162,174,165
People who are fully vaccinated*
56.4%
Percentage of the US population that has received at least one dose
56.4%
Percentage of the US population that has received at least one dose
48.8%
Percentage of the US population that has been fully vaccinated*
48.8%
Percentage of the US population that has been fully vaccinated*
+0.6
Percentage point increase from last week
+0.6
Percentage point increase from last week
+0.5
Percentage point increase from last week
+0.5
Percentage point increase from last week
*People are considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series (such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines), or 2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine (such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine).
Daily Change in Number of COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States Reported to CDC

7-Day moving average
Hospitalizations
New Hospital Admissions
The current 7-day average for July 13–July 19 was 3,521. This is a 32.2% increase from the prior 7-day average (2,663) from July 6–July 12. The 7-day moving average for new admissions has consistently increased since June 25, 2021.
2,338,869
Total New Admissions
2,338,869
Total New Admissions
3,521
Current 7-Day Average
3,521
Current 7-Day Average
2,663
Prior 7-Day Average
2,663
Prior 7-Day Average
+32.2%
Change in 7-Day Average
+32.2%
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
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 CMS Provider of Services file, which is used to identify the cohort of included hospitals.
COVID-NET: Trends in Hospitalizations in Adults Ages 65 Years and Older
CDC’s Coronavirus Disease 2019-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) shows that since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, people ages 65 years and older were the age group with the highest rates of hospitalization among all adults. While hospitalization rates in this age group had been decreasing over several months, preliminary data from the past 3 weeks show that rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations are again rising in adults ages 65 years and older. These are the first increases in rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations seen in this age group since April 2021.
Trends in Rates of COVID-19-Associated Hospitalizations in Adults Ages 65 Years and Older
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 standardized case reporting form.
Deaths
The current 7-day moving average of new deaths (223) has increased 9.3% compared with the previous 7-day moving average (204). As of July 21, a total of 607,684 COVID-19 deaths have been reported.
607,684
Total Deaths Reported
607,684
Total Deaths Reported
223
Current 7-Day Average*
223
Current 7-Day Average*
204
Prior 7-Day Average
204
Prior 7-Day Average
+9.3%
Change in 7-Day Average Since Prior Week
+9.3%
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 6,125 historical deaths reported retroactively, 15 were reported in the current week and 9 were reported in the prior week.
Daily Trends in Number of COVID-19 Deaths in the United States Reported to CDC

7-Day moving average
- COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Among Insured Persons Aged ≥16 Years, by Race/Ethnicity and Other Selected Characteristics — Eight Integrated Health Care Organizations, United States, December 14, 2020–May 15, 2021
- COVID-19 Vaccine Administration, by Race and Ethnicity — North Carolina, December 14, 2020–April 6, 2021
- Changes in Influenza and Other Respiratory Virus Activity During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, 2020–2021
Recent COVID Data Tracker Updates
- New Vaccination by Case Rate tab displays a bivariate map of cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 by percent of the total population fully vaccinated at the county level, and allows users to filter the map to any combination of the available bivariate classes.
- New age groups for those under 18 years old were added to the Total Cases and Deaths by Race/Ethnicity, Age, and Sex tab