The White House said during a COVID-19 response team briefing Wednesday that by the end of the day, the U.S. will have administered the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to 10% of kids aged between 5 and 11 in the country.
COVID-19 response team coordinator Jeff Zients said that by the close of business Wednesday, the U.S. will have administered 2.6 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine for kids. That represents about 10% of the 28 million children aged between 5 and 11 that live in the U.S.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gave final approval for the use of Pfizer's vaccine in kids on Nov. 2. Hours later, health care providers began distributing the shots.
Zients noted that the U.S. will have partially vaccinated 10% of eligible kids in the U.S. just 10 days after the children's vaccine program began operating at full capacity on Nov. 8.
Zients also added that by the end of the day on Wednesday, the U.S. will have partially vaccinated 80% of Americans aged 12 and older. In addition, 31 million people across the country have gotten a booster shot.
While vaccination rates are on the rise, the CDC notes that the seven-day average daily case rate in the U.S. is also ticking upward. Since Oct. 23, the number of average daily cases has risen from 63,000 a day to the current rate of 83,000 a day.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a White House medical adviser, noted Wednesday that the U.S. is still not in control of COVID-19, adding that "controlling it" would require a case rate that is "far, far lower" than current levels.
