US reports nearly 1 million vaccinations in past day, most since early July

The United States on Friday reported almost a million new COVID-19 vaccinations from the previous day’s total, the biggest one-day tally for vaccinations since early July.

About 918,000 were administered on Friday, according to Cyrus Shapar, the White House’s COVID-19 data director. The number includes 576,000 people getting their first dose of the vaccine.

The increase signals a rise in the vaccination rate amid a push to get more people shots as the delta variant fuels a surge in cases.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average number of shots per day has jumped from about 500,000 in mid-July to about 700,000. But the latest figures are still well below the peak in April, when more than 3 million shots were being given each day.

White House officials have said the rising COVID-19 case numbers could be spurring more people to get the shots, as they see outbreaks worsening around them.

“Strongest 24 hours of vaccinations since before July 4th,” tweeted White House chief of staff Ron Klain. “Vaccine requirements and incentives are starting to pay off — as well as the tragedy of seeing so much needless illness and loss due to Delta’s impact on the unvaccinated.”

The Biden administration has turned to a range of options to try to boost the vaccination rate, from recruiting celebrities like Olivia Rodrigo to encouraging efforts from businesses to require shots for their workers. President Biden at the end of July also said federal workers would need to be vaccinated, though it was not considered a mandate since government employees had the option to be tested regularly instead.

San Francisco and New York City are going even further by requiring proof of vaccination for a range of activities, including indoor dining.

Still, the administration has been treading carefully amid Republican resistance to COVID-19 requirements. For example, it said it will not be implementing any kind of vaccine passport system at the federal level.