Following the slowing of vaccinations and new preliminary data from the CDC, the surgeon general on Thursday stressed that 99.5% of new COVID-19 deaths are among the unvaccinated, along with over 97% of hospitalizations.
The announcement came after Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made a similar announcement backed up by findings from a June analysis done by the Associated Press.
Cases and hospitalization are rising where vaccination rates are low, according to Walensky. She said that 173 counties had case rates above 100 per 100,000 people, almost three times the national average of about 32 cases per 100,000, according to CDC data.
Nine in 10 of those 173 counties had vaccinated fewer than 40% of their residents, she said.
