COVID vaccinations more than double after weeks of steady decline

For most of this year, the rolling average for the number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered each day in the U.S. has been trending downward. But that changed recently.

For eight consecutive days ending Friday, the last day for which data is available, the average number of vaccinations administered more than doubled to 485,505 a day Friday from 214,405 a day March 30, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The bulk of the recent vaccinations were booster doses, data shows.

While there is no certain explanation for the noticeable jump in shots, the daily increases came after federal regulators authorized second booster shots of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines late last month for everyone 50 and older who had received their first booster shots at least four months earlier.