Washington (AFP)

The United States said Monday it was ramping up its vaccination campaign, making nearly all adults eligible within three weeks, amid worrying signs of a resurgence of the pandemic.

US President Joe Biden will announce that 90% of American adults will be eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine by April 19, the US executive said.

During a speech from the White House, Mr. Biden will also call on the Americans not to lower their guard and to respect the barrier gestures when the number of cases is on the rise in the United States.

In the morning, a senior health official from the White House had urged, very moved, the Americans to respect "a little more" the measures against the spread of the coronavirus, by confiding to fear "an imminent disaster".

Eager to take a moment out of her "speech" as director of the Centers for the Prevention and Control of Diseases (CDC), the main federal public health agency, Rochelle Walensky called on all influential people to "sound the alarm".

"I will take the time to reflect on the stubborn impression I have of impending disaster," she said, during a briefing from Joe's Covid-19 team. Biden.

"We have (...) so many reasons to hope. But at this moment, I'm afraid," she said.

After remaining stable for several weeks in the United States, the infection rate is now on the rise, with the most recent figures showing an average, over seven days, close to 60,000 new cases daily.

This represents an increase of 10% compared to the previous week.

In parallel, hospitalizations increased to 4,800 per day, against 4,600 over the previous seven days.

And deaths have increased 3%, to around 1,000 people every day.

Looking back on her experience as a doctor in the hospital, on the front line during the onset of the pandemic, Rochelle Walensky said she knew what it was like "to be the last person to touch someone's loved one. 'other because those who love him could not be there ".

While she acknowledged the hope provoked by the "three historic scientific discoveries" behind the vaccines used in the United States, the CDC director also stressed that the share of the population already vaccinated was not yet sufficient to prevent a new one. peak if the Americans no longer respected barrier gestures.

- Comparison with Europe -

She cited the Old Continent as a worrying example.

“The trajectory of the pandemic in the United States resembles that of many countries in Europe, including Germany, Italy and France, just a few weeks ago. And since then, these countries have seen a steady rise and worrying about the number of cases ", she underlined.

"I'm really looking forward to being done. I know you are really looking forward to being done. We're almost there. But not yet," said Rochelle Walensky, her voice trembling, by videoconference.

"So I ask you to hold on a little longer, to get yourself vaccinated when you can, so that all the people we love are still there when the pandemic ends."

- Positive development -

In the United States, 143 million doses have been injected and 16% of the population has been fully vaccinated, including nearly 50% of those over 65 years of age.

In a positive development on Monday, a real-world study found that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines had been shown to be 90% effective against coronavirus infection.

Carried out with just under 4,000 vaccinated American caregivers, between December 2020 and March 2021, this work also showed that a partial vaccination with a single dose of one of these two vaccines - based on the technology of the 'Messenger RNA - provided 80% protection two weeks after injection.

This study adds to the growing body of data showing that vaccines do not just stop the symptomatic development of the disease but also the infections themselves.

This makes it a crucial tool to curb the spread of the virus.

© 2021 AFP