The pace of the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed considerably in America in the past few weeks. The number of new COVID-19 cases during the most recent week hit a seven-month low. Nevertheless, 585,109 people have died in the United States, the highest number of any country in the world and about 18% of the global total. Confirmed cases in America have reached 32,732,341, also the highest in the world and about 21% of the global figure.

Vaccinations are the primary reason for the improvement. Forty-five percent of Americans have received at least one shot and a third of them are fully vaccinated. So far, 324,610,185 doses have been delivered and, from these, 251,973,752 shots have been given. That is about 78%, which suggests how inefficient the system of distribution has been. The figure varies by state as well. In Maine, 43% of residents are fully vaccinated. In Alabama, the number is only 25%.

Epidemiologists and public health officials worry that a wave of variants has started to quicken the spread of the disease in some areas of the country. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks several of them. The most common variant, first identified in the United Kingdom, is called B.1.1.7. It spreads quickly but appears to be treated by current vaccines.

Another worry is that large outbreaks in other countries eventually could affect the United States. The most troubling of these is currently in India.

Almost every one of the 3,006 counties in the United States has had at least one COVID-19 death. However, 37 counties, a little over 1%, have had none so far.

Only two of the counties with no deaths have populations over 10,000. The first is Dukes County, Massachusetts. Most of the county covers Martha’s Vineyard Island. It has a population of 17,313. The other is San Juan County, Washington. It includes several islands off the northwest coast of the state.

Sixteen of the counties where no one has died of COVID-19 have populations under 1,000. The smallest of these is Loving County, Texas, with a population of only 102. This county has only reported two cases over the course of the entire pandemic.

The number of counties with no fatal cases continues to shrink. These are the ones that are left:

County	Population	Cases
Dukes, Massachusetts	17,313	1,281
San Juan, Washington	16,473	171
Nome Census Area, Alaska	9,925	352
San Miguel, Colorado	7,968	874
Lake, Colorado	7,585	776
Calhoun, West Virginia	7,396	284
Cook, Minnesota	5,311	155
Mineral, Montana	4,211	252
Wahkiakum, Washington	4,189	108
Harlan, Nebraska	3,438	219
Sierra, California	2,930	112
Haines Borough, Alaska	2,518	31
Wrangell City and Borough, Alaska	2,484	55
Denali Borough, Alaska	2,232	102
Dolores, Colorado	1,841	80
Eureka, Nevada	1,830	51
Jackson, Colorado	1,296	57
Sioux, Nebraska	1,266	39
Alpine, California	1,146	88
Clark, Idaho	1,077	59
Skagway Municipality, Alaska	1,061	21
Esmeralda, Nevada	981	38
Billings, North Dakota	946	54
Hayes, Nebraska	943	59
Camas, Idaho	886	71
Logan, Nebraska	886	81
Hinsdale, Colorado	878	18
Wheeler, Nebraska	822	39
Keya Paha, Nebraska	792	53
Jones, South Dakota	735	93
Slope, North Dakota	704	32
Banner, Nebraska	696	35
Loup, Nebraska	585	42
Blaine, Nebraska	480	20
Harding, New Mexico	459	10
King, Texas	228	11
Loving, Texas	102	2

Click here to see the states where the most people are vaccinated against COVID-19.

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