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Every single one of the 92 COVID-19 deaths recorded in Maryland in June was among unvaccinated people.
Michael Ricci, director of communications for Gov Larry Hogan, announced the data on Twitter on Tuesday that no deaths linked to the virus occurred in partially or fully vaccinated residents.
Ricci also revealed that unvaccinated people accounted for 95 percent of total cases and 93 percent of hospitalizations in the state last month.
The data adds to a growing pile of evidence that the vaccines available in the U.S. are effective at preventing not only infection but also severe cases of COVID-19.
More than half, 56 percent, of Marylanders are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Maryland doled out around $2 million in a vaccine lottery program to help encourage residents to get vaccinated.
The state has recorded over 463,000 cases and just under 10,000 deaths since the pandemic first began in March 2020.
New cases in the state have decreased by over 90 percent since April 15, from over 1,000 a day to around 90 a day.
The data from Maryland matches the norm across the country.
In Wisconsin, for example, public health official announced at the end of June that 95 percent of deaths since March were among unvaccinated people.
Since the vaccine rollout got underway, and reached its peak around the U.S. in April, cases and deaths across the country have fallen.
Daily cases across the country have fallen by nearly 80 percent since April 15, from 70,000 a day on average to around 15,000 a day.
Across the U.S., unvaccinated Americans accounted for 99 percent of COVID-19 deaths recorded in May, according to an analysis by the Associated Press last month.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that 55.2 percent of Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 47.7 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
Currently, the nation of over 300 million people is averaging just over 15,000 cases and around 200 deaths every day from the virus.
America is sitting a large unused supply of vaccines as demand for the shots has decreased in recent weeks, though.
Cases are trending the wrong direction as well, as the Indian ‘Delta’ variant begins to spread across the nation.
The variant, which is highly contagious, is now the dominant strain in the U.S., accounting for 51.7 percent of cases.
States like Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas have been slammed especially hard, with the strain accounting for 80 percent of active cases.
Health officials are urging more Americans to get vaccinated, even saying that doing so could prevent all deaths in the nation.
‘Nearly every death, especially among adults, due to COVID-19, is, at this point, entirely preventable,’ said CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky last month.
On Wednesday, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, pleaded with unvaccinated Americans to put politics aside and receive the shots during an appearance on MSNBC.
‘Here we have a vaccine that’s highly, highly effective in preventing disease and certainly in preventing severe disease and hospitalization. It’s easy to get. It’s free and it’s readily available,’ he said.
‘So, you know, you’ve got to ask, what is the problem? Get over it. Get over this political statement. Just get over it and try and save the lives of yourself and your family.’
Fauci previously warned that the disparity in deaths and hospitalizations between the vaccinated and unvaccinated could split the country into two, as the vaccinated safely continue with their lives as the unvaccinated suffer.
President Joe Biden encouraged Americans to get vaccinated during a press briefing on Tuesday, and announced that his administration would work to bring vaccines to people within their communities – even going door-to-door if need be.
‘Right now, as I speak to you, millions of Americans are still unvaccinated and unprotected. And because of that, their communities are at risk, their friends are at risk. The people that they care about are at risk,’ Biden said.
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