INDIANAPOLIS — Here are Saturday's latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic, including the latest news on COVID-19 vaccinations and testing in Indiana.
Registrations for the vaccine are now open for Hoosiers 12 and older through the Indiana State Department of Health. This story will be updated over the course of the day with more news on the COVID-19 pandemic.
CDC director says COVID in US becoming 'pandemic of the unvaccinated'
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky warned that the outbreak in the U.S. is becoming “a pandemic of the unvaccinated” because nearly all hospital admissions and deaths are among those who hadn’t been immunized.
With the highly contagious Delta variant spreading rapidly, cases in the U.S. are up around 70% over the last week, hospital admissions have climbed about 36% and deaths rose by 26%, the CDC said Friday.
COVID-19 deaths and newly confirmed infections across the U.S. are still dramatically lower than they were over the winter. But for the first time since then, cases are rising in all 50 states, and the nation's vaccination drive has slowed to a crawl, with only about 48% of the population fully protected.
Latest US, world numbers
There have been more than 34.05 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States as of 5 a.m. ET Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been more than 608,800 deaths in the U.S.
Worldwide, there have been more than 188.54 million confirmed coronavirus cases with more than 4.07 million deaths. More than 3.57 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide.
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For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness like pneumonia, or death.
US to send first vaccine doses to Africa in coming days
The U.S. will begin making its first COVID-19 vaccine shipments to Africa in the coming days, with the ultimate goal of sharing 25 million doses this summer across the continent in partnership with the African Union.
The first donated doses will be sent to Ethiopia, Djibouti and Burkina Faso, said State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter, with the U.S. working with the COVAX global vaccine alliance. In all, doses will eventually go to 49 African countries.
According to the White House, Djibouti and Burkina Faso will each receive 151,200 doses of the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine, while Ethiopia will receive 453,600.