Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People
COVID-19 Homepage
Off to a Great Start
Interpretive Summary for August 19, 2022
Off to a Great Start
It’s back to school time again, and parents and caregivers across the country are concerned about keeping their kids safe in the changing COVID-19 landscape. Last week CDC released new COVID-19 guidance, including an update to recommendations for K-12 schools and Early Care and Education (ECE) programs. The new guidance helps schools protect students and staff, including people who are at increased risk.* Here are some ways to stay safe at school.
- Stay home when you’re sick. Even if it isn’t COVID-19, staying home still lowers the risk of spreading infections to other people.
- Get tested. Test immediately if you have COVID-19 symptoms. If you test positive, follow recommendations for isolation. If you were exposed to COVID-19 and do not have symptoms, wait at least 5 full days after your exposure before testing. If you test negative—and you used an at-home test—see FDA instructions on repeat testingExternal.
- Mask up. Staff and students should wear masks indoors if their COVID-19 Community Level is high, if they have been exposed to COVID-19, or if they are returning from isolation. To check your COVID-19 Community Level, visit COVID Data Tracker.
- Practice good hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette. Students should learn proper handwashing and to cover coughs and sneezes.
- Optimize ventilation, especially in places with high COVID-19 Community Levels. Effective ventilation and air filtration are important parts of COVID-19 prevention.
Schools are safer when students and staff are up to date on their vaccinations. All children ages 6 months and older are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines, and children 5 years and older are eligible for boosters. Children have been less affected by COVID-19 compared with adults, but they can get sick with COVID-19 and can spread it to others around them. Keeping all children healthy and safe is the key to getting this school year off to a great start.
Learn more about the new school guidance: Giving Every School the Tools to Prevent COVID-19 Spread and Stay Safely Open All Year LongExternal.
*Some students might need additional protections in the classroom—including those who are immunocompromised, with complex medical conditions, or with certain disabilities that can put them at higher risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19. Learn more about actions you can take to protect yourself and others.
- COVID Data Tracker’s County View page was updated to display county-level data on second booster doses.
- Safety Monitoring of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Doses Among Children Aged 5–11 Years — United States, May 17–July 31, 2022
- Summary of Guidance for Minimizing the Impact of COVID-19 on Individual Persons, Communities, and Health Care Systems — United States, August 2022
- Notes from the Field: School-Based and Laboratory-Based Reporting of Positive COVID-19 Test Results Among School-Aged Children — New York, September 11, 2021–April 29, 2022
- COVID-19 Self-Test Data: Challenges and Opportunities — United States, October 31, 2021–June 11, 2022
COVID-19 Community Levels
As of August 18, 2022, there are 1,091 (33.9%) counties, districts, or territories with a high COVID-19 Community Level, 1,324 (41.1%) counties with a medium Community Level, and 805 (25.0%) counties with a low Community Level. Compared with last week, this represents a moderate decrease (−5.7 percentage points) in the number of high-level counties, a marginal increase (+0.5 percentage points) in the number of medium-level counties, and a moderate increase (+5.2 percentage points) in the number of low-level counties. Overall, 49 out of 52 jurisdictions* had high- or medium-level counties this week. The District of Columbia, New Hampshire, and Nevada are the only jurisdictions to have all counties at low Community Levels.
To check your COVID-19 Community Level, visit COVID Data Tracker. To learn which prevention measures are recommended based on your COVID-19 Community Level, visit COVID-19 Community Level and COVID-19 Prevention.
*Includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.
Reported Cases
As of August 17, 2022, the current 7-day moving average of daily new cases (95,652) decreased 9.9% compared with the previous 7-day moving average (106,116). A total of 93,124,238 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the United States as of August 17, 2022.
Variant Proportions
CDC Nowcast projections* for the week ending August 20, 2022, estimate that the combined national proportion of lineages designated as Omicron will continue to be 100% with the predominant Omicron lineage being BA.5, projected at 88.9% (95% PI 87.6-90.1%).
There are several lineages of Omicron and within each are multiple sublineages. The national proportion of BA.4.6 is projected to be 6.3% (95% PI 5.2-7.6%), BA.4 is projected to be 4.3% (95% PI 4.0-4.7%), and BA.2.12.1 is projected to be 0.5% (95% PI 0.4-0.5%). See COVID Data Tracker for current data.
93,124,238
Total Cases Reported
93,124,238
Total Cases Reported
95,652
Current 7-Day Average***
95,652
Current 7-Day Average***
106,116
Prior 7-Day Average
106,116
Prior 7-Day Average
-9.9%
Change in 7-Day Average since Prior Week
-9.9%
Change in 7-Day Average since Prior Week
*CDC uses Nowcast projections to predict current variant proportions circulating in the United States. 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. Starting August 12, these projections use the most recent three weeks rather than the most recent two weeks of data. These data are now being updated on Fridays instead of Tuesdays. 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 652,811 historical cases reported retroactively, 11 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
7-Day moving average
Vaccinations
COVID-19 Vaccine Primary Series
As of August 17, 2022, 607.6 million vaccine doses have been administered in the United States. Overall, about 262.3 million people, or 79.0% of the total U.S. population, have received at least one dose of vaccine. About 223.7 million people, or 67.4% of the total U.S. population, have been fully vaccinated.*
607,588,353
Vaccine Doses Administered
607,588,353
Vaccine Doses Administered
262,323,837
People who received at least one dose
262,323,837
People who received at least one dose
223,684,995
People who are fully vaccinated*
223,684,995
People who are fully vaccinated*
+0.1
Percentage point increase from last week
+0.1
Percentage point increase from last week
+0.1
Percentage point change from last week
+0.1
Percentage point change 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-BioNTech, Moderna, or Novavax 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
7-Day moving average
COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters
Of those fully vaccinated, about 108.2 million people have received a booster dose,* but 50.0% of the total booster-eligible population has not yet received a booster dose. Booster dose eligibility varies by age and health condition. Learn more about who is eligible.
108,540,822
Booster Doses Administered
108,540,822
Booster Doses Administered
108,539,031
Population ≥ 5 Years of Age with a 1st booster dose*
108,539,031
Population ≥ 5 Years of Age with a 1st booster dose*
21,772,202
Population ≥ 50 Years of Age with a 2nd booster dose**
21,772,202
Population ≥ 50 Years of Age with a 2nd booster dose**
48.5%
Percentage of the Population ≥ 5 Years of Age with a 1st booster dose
48.5%
Percentage of the Population ≥ 5 Years of Age with a 1st booster dose
33.7%
Percentage of the Population ≥ 50 Years of Age with a 2nd booster dose
33.7%
Percentage of the Population ≥ 50 Years of Age with a 2nd booster dose
+0.1 /strong>
Percentage point increase from last week
+0.1 /strong>
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 are fully vaccinated and have received another dose of COVID-19 vaccine since August 13, 2021. This includes people who received their first additional dose or booster dose.
**Represents the number of people who are fully vaccinated and have received two subsequent doses of COVID-19 vaccine since August 13, 2021. This includes people who received two booster doses and people who received one additional dose and one booster dose.
COVID-19 Booster Dose Administration, United States
Hospitalizations
New Hospital Admissions
The current 7-day daily average for August 10–16, 2022, was 5,690. This is a 6.1% decrease from the prior 7-day average (6,059) from August 3–9, 2022.
5,161,555
Total New Admissions
5,161,555
Total New Admissions
5,690
Current 7-Day Average
5,690
Current 7-Day Average
6,059
Prior 7-Day Average
6,059
Prior 7-Day Average
-6.1%
Change in 7-Day Average
-6.1%
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
New admissions are pulled from a 10 am EDT snapshot of the HHS Unified Hospital Data – Analytic 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 & Medicaid Services (CMS) Provider of Services file, which is used to identify the cohort of included hospitals.
COVID-NET: Hospitalization Rates by Vaccination Status among Adults Ages ≥65 Years
CDC’s Coronavirus Disease 2019-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) shows that overall rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations have increased since the week ending April 2, 2022. Notably, rates among adults ages 65 years and older have seen a sharp increase, from 6.4 per 100,000 population on April 2, to 31.9 per 100,000 population on July 23. Rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations among adults aged ≥65 years have remained elevated for more than two months, ranging from 25.3 to 31.9 per 100,000 between May 14 and July 23.
Hospitalization Rates by Vaccination Status among Adults Ages ≥65 Years
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 using a standardized case reporting form.
Deaths
The current 7-day moving average of new deaths (394) has decreased 10.7% compared with the previous 7-day moving average (442). As of August 17, 2022, a total of 1,034,118 COVID-19 deaths have been reported in the United States.
1,037,381
Total Deaths Reported
1,037,381
Total Deaths Reported
390
Current 7-Day Average*
390
Current 7-Day Average*
441
Prior 7-Day Average
441
Prior 7-Day Average
-11.6%
Change in 7-Day Average Since Prior Week
-11.6%
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 21,756 historical deaths reported retroactively, none were reported in the current week; and none 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
More Death DataTesting
The percentage of COVID-19 NAATs (nucleic acid amplification tests)* that are positive is decreasing in comparison to the previous week. The 7-day average of percent positivity from NAATs is now 15.5%. The 7-day average number of tests reported for August 5–11, 2022, was 518,263, down 8.4% from 565,926 for the prior 7 days.
941,299,259
Total Tests Reported
941,299,259
Total Tests Reported
518,263
7-Day Average Tests Reported
518,263
7-Day Average Tests Reported
15.5%
7-Day Average % Positivity
15.5%
7-Day Average % Positivity
16.6%
Previous 7-Day Average % Positivity
16.6%
Previous 7-Day Average % Positivity
-1.06
Percentage point change in 7-Day Average % Positivity since Prior Week
-1.06
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
Wastewater Surveillance
COVID Data Tracker’s Wastewater Surveillance tab tracks levels, changes, and detections of SARS-CoV-2* viral RNA in wastewater at over 1,000 testing sites across the country.
Currently, most of the country is reporting moderate to high SARS-CoV-2 levels in wastewater. About half of sites reporting wastewater data are currently seeing some of the highest levels for those sites since December 1, 2021. About half of sites are experiencing a decrease in SARS-CoV-2 levels, and about 40% are reporting an increase. It’s important to note that even a small increase when levels are low can appear like a dramatic increase in the percent change.
For more information on how to use wastewater data, visit CDC’s website.
*The virus that causes COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2 Levels in Wastewater by Site
0% means levels are the lowest they have been at the site; 100% means levels are the highest they have been at the site.