Coronavirus Watch: New infections falling fast, but so is interest in vaccination

For the first time in seven months, the United States is only reporting one new coronavirus case every two seconds. At the country's worst in January, more than five cases were reported every two seconds. 

The U.S. is now averaging about 40,000 new cases per day, down about 43% from a recent peak less than a month ago. 

Almost half the U.S. population has received at least one vaccination jab, and more than one-third are fully vaccinated. However, the pace of first-dose vaccinations in the United States has fallen 60% in just the last month, a USA TODAY analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. 

The U.S. reported administering fewer than 5.1 million first doses in the week ending Sunday, down from 12.3 million doses in the week ending a month earlier. Compared with their best week of reported first-dose vaccinations, vaccinations are down 89% in South Dakota, 86% in Alaska, 85% in Wyoming and 84% in North Dakota.

It's Monday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the USA TODAY Network. Here's more news you need to know:

• A year of social distancing, mask wearing, hand washing and staying at home to prevent coronavirus spread rendered the 2020-2021 influenza season practically non-existent, statistics show.
• Variant infections boomed in Florida following spring break, making Florida home to the most variant COVID-19 cases in the nation, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported based on data from the Florida Department of Health.
• New York state's positivity test rate fell to its lowest level since before Halloween, and new cases fell 26% last week compared with the prior week, state and federal records show. 
• India is reporting more than 27,000 deaths per week, an average of 3,880 per day. The country has exceeded the worst week of the United States, which once had 24,025 deaths – and India deaths are overwhelmingly underreported, experts say.
• The Country Music Association said it is joining with Feeding America to help provide 4 million meals in more than a dozen U.S. cities, many "heavily populated with music industry professionals."
• Scores of colleges and universities are offering last year’s graduates a chance to experience the in-person commencements that were canceled because of the pandemic.

📈 Today's numbers: The U.S. has more than 32.7 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 581,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: Over 158 million cases and almost 3.3 million deaths. More than 329.8 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and more than 259.7 million have been administered, according to the CDC. More than 114 million Americans have been fully vaccinated – 34.4% of the population.

See the numbers in your area here, check out where cases are rising here, and see how many vaccines your state has received here.

– John Bacon, USA TODAY rewrite chief, @realjohnbacon