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After months of gradual declines, Covid-19 vaccinations are on the rise again.
Average daily doses have increased each of the previous nine days through Thursday, the longest sustained increase in vaccinations since November 2021. Since March 30, vaccinations have jumped from an average of approximately 200,000 shots per day to more than 450,000.
Adults aged 65 and older appear to be driving the vaccination surge, according to an NBC News analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC authorized second boosters for those 50 and older last week, provided they had already received their first booster shot and were boosted more than four months ago. An NBC News analysis showed that fewer than half of those eligible have gotten their first boosters.
The CDC has not yet published specific data on second boosters.
Vaccinations are up from a late-March low of fewer than 180,000 shots per day, but are still far below the peak of 3.3 million shots set in April 2021. They are also well below the average of 1 million or more the country tallied from November of that year to January.
This is not the first time that booster doses have led to an increase in the vaccination rate. Vaccinations rose last fall when boosters were first rolled out to eligible adults, along with vaccinations for children ages 5-11.