Cases of the Chinese coronavirus are at their lowest levels since March 2020, the beginning of the pandemic, which Axios attributes to the nation’s mass vaccination effort.
Axios, which has tracked the change in cases weekly for the last 56 weeks, announced the “case counts are now so low, the virus is so well contained, that this will be our final weekly map”:
By the numbers: The U.S. averaged roughly 16,500 new cases per day over the past week, a 30% improvement over the week before. New cases declined in 43 states and held steady in the other seven.
- The official case counts haven’t been this low since Americans went into lockdown in March last year — when the pandemic was still new, no one knew how long this would go on, and inadequate testing meant that cases were undercounted.
Axios also claimed the U.S. “largely failed to contain the virus until the vaccines arrived.” However, Florida, for example, reopened its state months earlier than blue states, before vaccines were readily available, yet it continued to consistently report fewer new cases of the virus per capita than states such as the most pro-lockdown, pro-mask states such as New York.
A chart from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows the progression of the virus in terms of cases, with the biggest spike occurring in January. However, cases dipped twice before that — in June and August, per the chart.
“But now, the virus really is under control, nationwide and in every state, thanks almost entirely to the vaccines,” Axios asserts.
According to the CDC, over 136 million people in the U.S. are “fully vaccinated,” representing 41 percent of the population. Overall, over 168 million have received at least one dose of a vaccine, representing just over 50 percent of the population, June 2 data shows.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has also attributed the declining case numbers to vaccines.
“There were fewer than 17,000 new confirmed COVID cases in the entire U.S. yesterday. Vaccines work,” the Democrat governor declared:
The news comes as the Biden administration works to urge Americans to get the shot, hoping to have 70 percent of the population vaccinated by July 4th. The White House even teamed up with Snapchat to urge young people to get vaccinated, with the platform introducing a filter featuring Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, promoting the practice.
“Hey folks. We have to get vaccinated,” Biden says on the filter, warning that new variants are “affecting young people” but forgoing details.
“Getting the vaccine can prevent you from spreading it to your friends and to your family. Let’s end the COVID crisis once and for all,” Biden said:
Notably, Biden failed to note that the risk factors, particularly for younger people contracting the virus, are extremely low, lower than original estimates issued over a year ago. According to Worldometer figures, last updated May 14, the Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) stood at 1.4 percent, with 98.6 percent of those contracting the virus recovering.
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Meanwhile, Fauci, who warned against declaring victory over the virus “prematurely,” continues to face a wave of scrutiny following the emergence of emails showing how he handled key narratives surrounding the virus behind the scenes throughout the pandemic.