U.S. coronavirus cases top 25 million

 The number of coronavirus cases in the United States crossed 25 million on Sunday, a Reuters tally showed, as states accelerate their vaccine distribution and more infectious strains are found globally.

States including North Dakota and West Virginia have injected more than 83% of their allocated doses into residents’ arms, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Sunday.

Virginia administered the fewest doses, with 42% of the vaccines received.

The United States has administered at least 21.8 million doses of COVID vaccines, to about 6% of its population. The two vaccines currently approved also require a second dose.

Alaska leads the vaccine administration tally, with about 13% of its population vaccinated, followed by West Virginia, with 11%.

The number of new infections is slowing after a surge following Thanksgiving and year-end holidays, with about 25% of the total U.S. COVID-19 cases recorded in the past 30 days.

An analysis of Reuters data shows it took 200 days to reach the first 5 million cases, 93 days to go from 5 million to 10 million, 31 days from 10 million to 15 million, 25 days to go from 15 million to 20 million, and 24 days to go from 20 million to 25 million cases.

U.S. deaths have also soared this year as more than 70,000 people have lost their lives in the last 25 days, taking the toll to more than 417,000 and predicted to surpass 500,000 by February.

The number of hospitalized patients has fallen in the past 10 days and last Thursday dropped below 120,000 for the first time since Dec. 27. But some health officials are concerned the current vaccines may not work well against the South African variant of the virus.