The US has now vaccinated 70% of adults with at least one shot against Covid-19, according to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, belatedly reaching a milestone the Biden administration had hoped to hit by July 4.
With coronavirus cases again surging among unvaccinated Americans and America’s vaccination rate now lagging behind countries like Canada and the UK, the people who haven’t yet gotten vaccinated are rightfully getting a lot of focus. But it’s also worth pulling back briefly to note that, in a span of less than a year, the vast majority of adults across the country have participated in the Covid-19 vaccine campaign.
As a bit of extra context, here’s a list of some things American adults are less likely to have in common than being vaccinated, according to polls:
- 53% planned to watch this year’s Super Bowl (Quinnipiac, 2021)
- 53% handed out Halloween candy the year before the pandemic (CBS News/SSRS, 2019)
- 54% have ever read a romance novel (CBS News/SSRS, 2017)
- 56% have cable or satellite TV at home (Pew Research, 2020)
- 61% ever play video games (Pew Research, 2017)
- 62% voted in the 2020 presidential election (Pew Research, 2021)
- 62% went to the library even once in the year before the pandemic (Gallup, 2019)
- 63% consider themselves fans of any particular sports team (PRRI, 2017)
- 64% drink coffee on a typical day (Gallup, 2015)
- 64% have a pet of any sort (SSRS, 2019)
- 65% ever drink alcohol (Gallup, 2019)
- 66% know their own blood type (CBS News/SSRS, 2019)
- 67% eat breakfast most days (CBS News/SSRS, 2016)
- 67% have ever been camping overnight (CBS News/SSRS, 2019)
- 69% ever use Facebook (Pew Research, 2021)
Most adults in the US who wanted a vaccine have already gotten one, and convincing or compelling the remaining unvaccinated to follow suit will be an increasingly uphill struggle.
But if the vaccination rate continues to tick upward, we’re only a few points from making getting a Covid shot as commonplace an American experience as putting up a Christmas tree or flying a kite.
