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https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/covid-2021-03-24/card/A2Bij0yXByOF0f3I0B5G

As Covid-19 Cases Stagnate, U.S. Vaccinations Pick Up

By David Hall

Newly reported coronavirus cases in the U.S. rose slightly, while Covid-19 vaccination campaigns continued to ramp up, with more than a quarter of the country having received at least one dose.

The U.S. reported 52,878 new cases for Tuesday, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Tuesday’s total was slightly higher than Monday’s revised tally of 50,584, and close to the 53,811 reported a week earlier.

The seven-day average of newly reported cases, which helps smooth out irregularities in data reporting, stood at 53,308 on Tuesday, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins data. The 14-day average was 54,043. When the 14-day average is higher than the seven-day average, it indicates cases are falling. But the gap between the two metrics has been narrowing over the past week, remaining below 1,000, and over the weekend, the seven-day average overtook the 14-day average. In 28 states, the seven-day average is higher than the 14-day, signaling a rise in cases in some places.

Hospitalizations continued to decline but, like cases, more slowly. States reported around 40,000 Covid-19 patients in their hospitals, according to the latest data posted by the Department of Health and Human services.

The nation reported 894 Covid-19 fatalities for Tuesday, bringing the total death toll to more than 543,800, according to Johns Hopkins data.

With newly reported cases flattening following a steep drop from January records, public-health officials have increasingly sounded the alarm over relaxing social-distancing guidelines and over the spread of highly contagious variants.

The new variants pose a threat to progress on vaccinations, Andy Slavitt, President Biden’s senior adviser on Covid-19, said Tuesday. Speaking at a health forum hosted by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Slavitt warned that a highly transmissible U.K. variant accounted for a rise in Covid-19 infections in Florida.

Mr. Slavitt said the public should remain vigilant despite an acceleration in the pace of vaccinations.

“If people decide that now is the time they want to let down their guard…and not wear a mask or get on an airplane or what have you, because they think they see the light at the end of the tunnel, it’s not time to do that yet,” he said.

Around 25.3% of Americans have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and an average of 2.5 million doses a day have been administered over the past week, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vaccination levels vary by state. In New Mexico, 33.5% of residents have had at least one shot, while 20.3% are fully vaccinated. In Georgia, which along with Texas announced plans to expand vaccine eligibility to all adults Tuesday, 19.4% of residents have received one vaccine dose and 11% are fully vaccinated.