Now more than two-thirds of US citizens plan to get vaccinated for COVID - up 10% since November - with confidence growing fastest among African Americans as jabs hit 2M a day

  • Sixty-nine percent of adults polled said they had been jabbed or intended to be
  • 61% percent of African-Americans in favour - a large rise from 42% in November
  • Comes amid continuing row over states' reopening plans as daily cases creep up

A growing number of Americans plan to get vaccinated against COVID with confidence increasing particularly among African Americans, according to the latest Pew Research Center survey.

Sixty-nine percent of the adults polled last month by Pew said they have already been vaccinated or plan to get dosed, up from 60% who said they planned to get vaccinated in November.

Of the 69%, 19% said they had already received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, according to results published on Friday. 

It comes amid a continuing row over states' reopening plans as daily cases in the US crept back towards 70,000. 

Ex-FDA chief Dr. Scott Gottilieb contradicted Dr. Anthony Fauci by saying governors are right to begin easing restrictions as long as mask mandates stay in place.

Dr. Gottlieb told CNBC's 'Squawk Box' Friday he believes states 'need to try to provide a pathway that allows people to gradually get back to normal activity' as the US continues to get more vaccines into the arms of the American people. 

People wait in a line stretching around the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan to receive the COVID vaccine

People wait in a line stretching around the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan to receive the COVID vaccine 

This graph - produced by the Pew Research Center shows views of the COVID vaccine among US adults

This graph - produced by the Pew Rshows views of the COVID vaccine among US adults

Dr. Gottlieb, who headed up the Food and Drug Administration from 2017 until April 2019 under Donald Trump and is now on the board of Pfizer, raised the example of Connecticut, where he lives and also acts as a pandemic adviser to Democratic Governor Ned Lamont. 

The state announced the lifting of all capacity limits on several businesses from mid-March but is leaving its mask mandate in place. 

This strategy is somewhat different, he said, to the blanket lifting of all COVID-19 restrictions and scrapping of mask mandates that Texas and Mississippi embarked on earlier this week.

It came after Joe Biden blasted Republican governors for their 'Neanderthal thinking' while Fauci described the move as 'inexplicable' and said restrictions shouldn't be eased until new daily COVID-19 cases fall below 10,000.

Meanwhile, the Pew study showed America's successful vaccine drives appears to be increasing confidence in the jab.  

A total of 61% of the African-Americans surveyed said they planned to get vaccinated, up sharply from 42% who said they would in November.

The African-American population has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic which has killed more than 520,000 people in the United States.

Democrats are 27 percentage points more likely than Republicans - 83% to 56% - to say they plan to get vaccinated or have already been vaccinated, Pew said.

Two-thirds of those surveyed said they know someone who has been hospitalized for Covid-19 or someone who has died of the disease, a figure which rises to 78% among Black Americans.

The survey found 49% of Black adults consider the coronavirus a major threat to their personal health compared with 26% of white adults, Pew said.

Sixty-nine percent of the adults polled last month by Pew said they have already been vaccinated or plan to get dosed. Pictured is a man receiving the vaccine in Los Angeles

Sixty-nine percent of the adults polled last month by Pew said they have already been vaccinated or plan to get dosed. Pictured is a man receiving the vaccine in Los Angeles 

A number of reasons were cited by the 30% of adults who said they did not plan to get vaccinated. Among them were concerns about side effects and a sense the vaccines were developed and tested too quickly.

The Pew survey of 10,000 people was conducted February 16-21, before the approval by US authorities of the latest vaccine from Johnson & Johnson.

Andy Slavitt, White House senior advisor for COVID-19 response, said Friday that more than 82 million Covid shots have been administered in the United States -- 'more than any country in the world.'

'Nearly 55% of people aged 65 or older have received at least one shot,' Slavitt said.

The US is now vaccinating a sustained two million people a day, according to data from Bloomberg.

Two million shots were administered on Thursday, keeping the seven-day rolling average of doses administered a day to two million for the second day in row

Two million shots were administered on Thursday, keeping the seven-day rolling average of doses administered a day to two million for the second day in row

Two million COVID shots were administered on Thursday, keeping the seven-day rolling average of doses administered a day to two million for the second day in row.

It puts the Biden administration well ahead of the president's goal of giving 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office - a feat that was well within reach even before vaccine makers increased supplies and third shot, Johnson & Johnson's one-dose vaccine, was authorized last week.

More than 82.5 million doses have been administered since the US vaccine rollout began on December 14. More than half of seniors 65 or older have gotten at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, White House officials announced Friday.

Since President Biden took office on January 20, 65.3 million doses of vaccine have been given, according to a DailyMail.com analysis of Bloomberg data.

That puts the president way ahead of his modest goal. With 34.7 million shots to go, at this rate, the US could reach 100 million doses by March 22, rather than the end of April.

Johnson & Johnson's one-dose vaccine was hoped to help get shots more easily into the arms of those in rural areas, elderly people who have trouble getting to appointments or those whose jobs don't give them time off to get vaccinated.

But it's hitting a stumbling block familiar to Britons. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has declined the Michigan city's first allotment of 72 percent J&J vaccines, saying he'd rather have others, despite the fact that the one-dose shot prevents 100 percent of COVID-19 deaths.

'So, Johnson & Johnson is a very good vaccine. Moderna and Pfizer are the best. And I am going to do everything I can to make sure the residents of the City of Detroit get the best,' he said during a Thursday press conference.

He is among the first to turn down the allocation of the shot, despite assurances from Dr Anthony Fauci, the FDA and the CDC that no shot is better than any others.

Moderna's and Pfizer's vaccines are each more than 94 percent effective after two doses, compared to the 72 percent effectiveness of J&J's shot. But all three are thought to completely prevent COVID-19 deaths. 

Ex-FDA chief Dr. Scott Gottilieb has waded into the fray about states reopening plans by contradicting Dr. Anthony Fauci and saying governors are right to begin easing COVID-19 restrictions as long as mask mandates stay in place

Ex-FDA chief Dr. Scott Gottilieb has waded into the fray about states reopening plans by contradicting Dr. Anthony Fauci and saying governors are right to begin easing COVID-19 restrictions as long as mask mandates stay in place

Florida beach hot spot BANS Spring Breakers to curb the spread of COVID 

A Florida beach hotspot has banned Spring Breakers from out of state who are under 23 years old, as they brace themselves for an influx of thousands of college students amid COVID-19 concerns.

The Wharf announced on Friday that throughout March, it will not allow in anyone from out-of-state who is younger than 23 in a further effort to curb Spring Break debauchery.

The popular bar said in an Instagram post that guests who have out-of-state IDs will be restricted to those 23 or older.

Partygoers had already crowded onto beaches and into bars and restaurants in Florida on Friday, as the first students began to arrive and set about enjoying the state's weather and the lax coronavirus restrictions.

Students ignored pleas from city officials hoping to prevent the wave of young people from descending on the state in the coming weeks.

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On Friday, infections crept up once more toward the 70,000 mark, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

The US recorded 68,787 new cases Friday, up from 65,487 Thursday, resulting in a seven-day average of 61,270 cases. 

Daily deaths also inched up from 1,743 Thursday to 2,221 Friday, however this is still around half the daily death toll recorded one month ago. 

With the data moving in the right direction in recent weeks, several governors have lifted COVID-19 restrictions - a move that is dividing health experts.  

Dr. Scott Gottilieb told CNBC he thinks now is the time to begin easing rules without 'taking our foot off the brake all at once'.

'I think it's the kind of thing we need to be doing around the country, is at least providing a map of where we're heading if the situation continues to improve without taking our foot off the brake all at once,' he told CNBC. 

However, Gottlieb said the last thing that should be lifted is mask mandates.

'Leaving the masks in place, having that be the last thing we lift, I think that's prudent,' he said.

Gottlieb also pointed to differences in the relaxation of restrictions in different parts of the US calling Connecticut a 'middle path' compared to Texas's 'full reopening.'

In the Constitution State, it is 'not quite the full reopening that Texas did,' he said.

'I think the governor here is carving a prudent middle path.'       

On Friday, infections crept up once more toward the 70,000 mark and deaths also rose, according to the COVID Tracking Project

On Friday, infections crept up once more toward the 70,000 mark and deaths also rose, according to the COVID Tracking Project 

The COVID Tracking Project said the uptick in deaths was due to a change in reporting by Ohio with officials now announcing data twice a week instead of daily

The COVID Tracking Project said the uptick in deaths was due to a change in reporting by Ohio with officials now announcing data twice a week instead of daily