Coronavirus Cases Up In Middlesex Area Despite Vaccination Increase

MIDDLESEX, NJ — The U.S. has made great progress in battling the coronavirus, owing partly to the rapid expansion of vaccination. Yet concern persists among health experts that further progress could be slowed by pandemic fatigue, the spread of virus variants and the relaxation of mask mandates and other preventive measures.

As of Thursday, more than 133 million vaccine doses have been administered in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About a third of people 18 and older have received at least one dose, and the country is administering an average of more than 2.2 million doses per day.

In New Jersey, 3,869,393 total doses have been administered as of March 25, according to the CDC.

About 38 percent of New Jersey’s population 18 and older has received at least one dose and about 20 percent are fully vaccinated. New Jersey ranks sixth nationally for percent of adults who have received at least one dose.

Each state has its own requirements for vaccine eligibility. Here is more information on how to get a vaccine and who is eligible in New Jersey. President Joe Biden has directed states to open eligibility to all adults no later than May 1, with the hope that the country will be mostly back to normal by the Fourth of July.

There have been 2,613 new cases reported in Middlesex County between March 19 and 25; there were 2,508 recorded between March 12 and 18, according to data from the New York Times, which assembles data from state and local health departments.

Daily U.S. coronavirus cases peaked around mid-January but have since declined about 79 percent, according to the CDC. The drop in daily cases has been less pronounced over the past two weeks. The U.S. averaged 56,225 daily cases over seven days as of March 23.

"When you are at that level, I don't think you can declare 'victory' and say you've turned the corner," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical adviser. "You've got to continue to do what we're doing: more vaccinations and continue to do public health measures until we actually do turn the corner."

Health officials cautioned that while the U.S. has made significant progress in vaccinating people, there is still much more work to be done. Only around 13 percent of people have been fully vaccinated, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday at a White House news briefing. She expressed concern about wild spring break scenes of people partying without social distancing or mask use.

“We’re at 13 percent, we need to be much higher than that to feel like we have adequate protection around this country,” she said.

Preliminary data from Israel suggests that current coronavirus vaccines are still very effective against the highly contagious U.K. variant, Fauci said.

Some parts of the Northeast have seen an increase in cases, and Michigan is experiencing high transmission rates in some areas.

The country is averaging about 1,000 deaths per day, which is the lowest amount since early November, according to CDC data. More than 540,000 people have died from the coronavirus in the U.S. since the pandemic began.

Editor's note: This post was automatically generated using data from the CDC and the New York Times. Please report any errors or other feedback to [email protected].