Still, he and other health experts said the increased rollout of vaccines to the public, especially to the most vulnerable Americans, would be a boon. The seven-day average of daily vaccine doses administered has risen from steadily going from around 444,000 on Jan. 6 to about 1.5 million on Feb. 9, according to the CDC.
Dr. David Larsen, an epidemiologist and associate professor of public health at Syracuse University, told ABC News that by prioritizing the most vulnerable Americans, state vaccine programs have helped to keep more patients out of hospitals."By increasing the doses to those groups ... that will likely continue the drop in hospitalization," he said.Larsen and Brownstein both warned that there would likely be another jump in cases caused by the new variants discovered in countries like the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa. It is still too early to tell if that jump will be as significant as the winter surge, Brownstein said, but he emphasized there is a potential.ABC News / CDCCOVID-19 vaccination in the U.S.Both Pfizer and Moderna have said their vaccines are effective against the U.K. variant.Current research out of Israel, where 6.4 million residents have received one dose and nearly 29% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to John Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center, shows the vaccines are helping to alleviate potential surges, Brownstein pointed out.MORE: How COVID-19 vaccine rollout compares to smallpox, polio and others in the past"We know the U.K. variant was widely transmitted in Israel, but we’re seeing massive improvements with regards to case numbers there," he said.Octavio Jones/ReutersA woman receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from a Hillsborough County Fire Rescue paramedic at the historic Greater Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tampa, Fla., Feb. 14, 2021.In the meantime, the health experts said Americans must continue to stick to the health guidelines that have been in place since last year, especially mask wearing and social distancing, to keep the decline going."Transmission is still around, and there is still a risk. We’ve got to stay the course," Larsen said.Source : abcnews.go.com