Vaccine milestone: Half of US adults fully vaccinated against COVID-19

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday that half of U.S. adults — 129 million people over 18 — are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

In adults over 65 years old, that number rises to 73 percent — or 40 million individuals.

Even more promising, nearly half of all Americans of all ages, that’s 164 million people, have obtained at least one dose of the vaccine.

In nine states, 70 percent of their population over the age of 18 —  Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont — are fully vaccinated.

At least 25 states — including Washington, D.C. — have reported at least half of the adult population being given at least one COVID-19 dose.

The Food and Drug Administration approved of vaccines to anyone over 16 in mid-April and, at the start of May, allowed the Pfizer vaccine to be administered to children over the age of 12.

Those under 12 are still ineligible for the vaccine pending further study.

“The progress that we have made … is due to all of you who have gotten vaccinated, who have contributed not only to your health but to mine and my family’s and my friends’ and yours, and the health of people who can’t get vaccinated because of their medical condition,” COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt said during a White House coronavirus response team briefing on Tuesday. “You’ve contributed to our country.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.