The spread of the supercontagious delta variant of the coronavirus and the relatively low vaccination rate despite the fact that, unlike in many other countries, all adults have had access to immunization for months, has made the United States the place of the world where the pandemic is worsening the fastest.
Between July 19 and 25, there were 500,332 cases of COVID-19, which represents an increase of 131% over the previous week, more than anywhere else in the world, according to data from the World Health Organization ( WHO).
It is followed by Brazil with 324,334 infections (13% more) and Indonesia with 289,029 (17% more).
To try to curb this trend, President Joe Biden will announce Thursday that the three million federal workers or contractors will have to be vaccinated or subjected to strict tests against COVID-19.
But, in addition, the president has urged state and local authorities to award 100 dollars to all people who get vaccinated from the hour, using for them the 350,000 million in additional funds approved by Congress in the American Rescue Plan .
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Almost 164 million people are fully vaccinated in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), representing 49.3% of the population.
In addition, another 26 million have received at least one dose, bringing the percentage to 57.1%.
However, a single dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines (which require two, as opposed to Johnson & Johnson's) is not enough to effectively protect against the delta variant, according to the CDC, which urges taking the two.
Complete vaccination does work against this strain and any other, although a very small number of infections can always occur despite this.
Vaccinated people can also harbor a much greater amount of virus than has been known so far, the CDC indicated this week, which has led to an update of the mask use mandate, recommending it again even for people vaccinated indoors in the regions with the highest incidence of infections.
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CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has described the worrying spike in infections in recent weeks as "the pandemic of the unvaccinated," and federal and state authorities have been quick to take steps to increase the rate of immunization. .
Thus, for example, the states of New York and California have forced their state workers to be vaccinated or undergo rigorous weekly tests.
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The private sector has also adhered to mandatory vaccination.
Thus, companies such as Netflix, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Lyft, The Washington Post or the Saks Fifth Avenue chain have demanded that their employees be immunized.
"It all helps," Indiana University health director Dr. Aaron Carroll, who has written about the effectiveness of vaccination mandates, told NBC News on Wednesday.
"The reason the mandates work is because they are nudges [in the fight against the spread of the virus]. If we say by default 'don't get vaccinated', a lot of people just won't do it," he said.
In his opinion, reinstating the guidelines on the use of masks that prevailed before vaccines will not have the same impact as vaccination mandates, since people who mostly wear face masks are already immunized.
"We just have to get everyone vaccinated, then we can move towards eradicating the disease," he said.
A survey conducted last week by the Morning Consult company revealed that three out of five adults would support mandatory vaccination.
The poll found that 49% of Republicans would not support a vaccination mandate, 38% said yes.
With information from NBC News.