British variant of covid-19 detected throughout the US 0:34
(CNN) -
Only five states accumulate 43% of the new reported cases of covid-19 in the last week in the United States, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
More than 196,400 of the nation's 453,360 cases were reported in New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the past week, according to data available Wednesday morning.
22% of the US population lives in these states, according to estimates by the US Census Bureau.
Case rates have especially risen in Michigan of late, averaging more than 6,600 daily cases for a week, up from 1,350 daily cases five weeks ago.
Elected officials and health experts have said that highly contagious variants, such as B.1.1.7, have contributed to intensifying increases there and in other parts of the country.
LOOK: Do you need a vaccination passport to return to normality?
Increase in covid-19 cases in the United States due to more contagious variants
Variant B.1.1.7, first identified in the United Kingdom, is now the most common strain of coronavirus in the United States, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC).
advertising
"Based on our most recent estimates from CDC surveillance, variant B.1.1.7 is now the most common variant circulating in the United States," Walensky said at the White House covid-19 response team briefing. .
With the addition of more transmissible variants, spikes like Michigan's are likely soon, even though vaccination rates have risen nationwide, said epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm.
"I wish we had another three or four months before this wave of B.1.1.7 variants started," Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said Tuesday.
LEE: Coronavirus variants force changes to be made in vaccines. What are the FDA recommendations?
The daily rate of new coronavirus cases in the country increased for most of the last four weeks.
Part of it is due to the spread of B.1.1.7 and other worrisome variants, Walensky said earlier this week.
In the last week, the United States has registered an average of more than 64,760 new cases of coronavirus per day, a little less than the previous week, but still 21% more than two weeks ago and 12% more than four weeks ago, according to Johns Hopkins.
The rise in variants in some states like Michigan should cause the federal government to consider changing the way vaccines are assigned, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown School of Public Health, told CNN on Wednesday.
«In some states ... the number of cases is decreasing, California is one of them.
Other states, like Michigan, are doing a good job of vaccinating, but they have a big increase, "Jha said.
"So the federal strategy has to be to send more vaccines to places like Michigan that are on the rise so they can use more vaccines to slow that rise and save lives," he said.
The CDC states that more than 16,200 cases of variant B.1.1.7 have been confirmed in surveillance testing in the US, and that B.1.1.7 has been found in all states.
This figure does not represent the total number of cases of this type that circulate in the United States, but only those that have been found when analyzing the samples.
CDC Director: Decreased Number of Daily Deaths May Be 'An Effect of Vaccination'
While cases have recently increased or stabilized, the number of daily deaths from COVID-19 has decreased.
According to data from Johns Hopkins, in the last week there has been an average of 774 daily deaths from covid-19, 22% less than the average of the previous week.
The decline is even greater since the first day of March, when the average was about 2,000 deaths a day.
LOOK: Biden advances the date for the vaccination of adults against covid-19
In Wednesday's briefing, Walensky attributed this decline in numbers to vaccination.
"I am very encouraged by this decrease in deaths, which I think is an effect of vaccination, especially vaccination of our senior communities," Walensky said.
But, he added, current case counts are "too high to think that we have won this battle."
According to the latest CDC data, 19.4% of the total US population was fully vaccinated as of Wednesday morning;
and 57.4% of people 65 years of age or older are fully vaccinated.
Half of U.S. adults could get their first vaccination on the weekend, according to the White House
By the end of this weekend, the US will be close to half of adults having their first vaccinated against the covid-19 virus, a White House official said.
However, advances in vaccination do not mean the pandemic is over in the country, a Biden administration adviser said Tuesday.
"We have to remember that there are more than 100 million adults who have not yet been vaccinated," Andy Slavitt, the White House's senior adviser for covid-19 response, told CNN's Chris Cuomo.
"They are not there yet, and the war is not won until they all fall."
As of early Wednesday, the US had more than 109.4 million people over the age of 18 with at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
This is 42.4% of US adults and an increase of 0.7 percentage points in the last day, according to CDC data.
President Joe Biden has set a goal for all states to open vaccination to all adults who want it by April 19.
That task is getting easier as the supply and accessibility of vaccines increases, Slavitt said.
Vaccination rate and measures against covid-19 vary in states
But the United States has a long way to go before achieving group immunity.
Dr. Anthony Fauci has calculated that between 70% and 85% of the population must be immune.
And the vaccination rate for all willing adults varies widely between states, according to a CNN analysis of federal data.
While states like New York and North Dakota could vaccinate all willing adults by June, some states could take until the end of 2021. And in a race against the spread of worrisome variants and growing COVID-19 fatigue, experts They say that it is essential to vaccinate citizens quickly.
LEE: Vaccination against covid-19 of adults over 80 years of age begins in El Salvador
Some states are withdrawing mask mandates and opening capacity for businesses.
But Fauci said Tuesday that giving up preventive measures while most Americans remain unvaccinated is a mistake.
"It is premature to declare a victory," said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
"We have to continue and endure a little more by continuing with public health measures."
The US still has tools to stay the course even when the public is tired, Slavitt said.
Opening accessibility to vaccines and targeting some groups, as the US did to administer at least one vaccine to 80% of teachers and school personnel in the face of calls to reopen schools, can help the country continue fighting COVID-19, Slavitt said.
CNN's Deidre McPhillips, Lauren Mascarenhas, Betsy Klein, Ashley Ahn, Kaitlan Collins, Jennifer Henderson, Michael Nedelman, Cheri Mossburg, Ryan Prior and Lauren del Valle contributed to this report.
