(KERO) — As the number of COVID cases surges across the country there is at least one positive sign. The nation recording the highest number of vaccines administered in seven weeks.
According to the White House over the course of 24 hours from Wednesday to Thursday more than one million people got a COVID vaccine. Of those, 562,000 were newly vaccinated. That's a 31 percent increase from the week before.
However, despite the spike in vaccinations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says only about half of the United States' population is fully vaccinated.
Still, more people across the nation are ending up in the hospital with COVID. The CDC says there's been an increase in people 30 to 39 years old and also in kids under 18.
"We're seeing far more young people affected by this virus requiring hospitalization," said Dr. Danny Branstetter, medical director of infection prevention at Wellstar Health System. "The virus is drawing a distinction between those who have been vaccinated and are unvaccinated."
Pfizer and Moderna are conducting clinical studies on a vaccine for children under 12 years old. Pfizer says it expects to have enough information by the end of September to support an emergency use authorization for children 5 to 11 years old. It hopes to have data for a vaccine for children under five not too long after.
