As COVID-19-related hospital admissions have risen for another week in a row — 23,432 in the most recently reported week — the CDC is also alerting clinicians to low vaccination rates, urging them to emphasize its importance in preventing severe infection.
Right now, uptake of the latest COVID-19 vaccine stands at 17% in adults, and 7.7% in children 6 months to 17 years old.
Five more updates:
- The latest variant, JD.1, now accounts for 21.4% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., which the CDC says could mean it is "either more transmissible or better at evading our immune systems."
- However, the leading variant making up the highest percentage of COVID-19 cases currently is HV.1.
- Nine states are currently reporting moderate levels of COVID-19 activity, including: Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia.
- Kentucky has had the most COVID-19 deaths in recent weeks, up 108% from the week prior.
- Nationally, deaths due to COVID-19 as of Dec. 9 showed little change.