| On the Beatles' "Sergeant Pepper" album, Paul McCartney sings, "I've got to admit it's getting better, a little better all the time." His more sardonic writing partner, John Lennon, replies, "Can't get no worse."
When it comes to Covid-19 in the U.S., it certainly could get worse. Just look at the devastation in India or the uncontrollable outbreaks roiling South America. And some states, such as Oregon and Michigan, are battling surges driven by more contagious variants of the coronavirus. But if you just examine the trajectory of all new infections in the U.S., you've got to admit it's getting better.
Last week, cases rose at the slowest pace since the pandemic began, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. The 1.07% gain was below the previous record of 1.25% set in the seven days ended March 14. The weekly total of new infections increased by 344,448, the lowest since the period ended Oct. 11, before the start of a surge intensified by the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons.
Even so, the U.S. is by no means out of the woods. The slowdown in new cases is coinciding with a drop in the pace of vaccinations, which are crucial to keeping the deadly virus at bay. The latest vaccination rate across the 50 states is 2.29 million doses per day, on average, down from more than 3.37 million doses a day on April 13, according to Bloomberg's Vaccine Tracker.  A man gets the Pfizer vaccine at a pop-up vaccination clinic in New York. Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images North America Those rates aren't high enough to quell periodic outbreaks. Even states with relatively high vaccine coverage, including Minnesota and Pennsylvania, have seen their numbers rise. Younger, unvaccinated populations are increasingly viewed as key to heading off a potential fourth wave. New vaccine supplies have allowed states to open up eligibility to all residents over age 16.
Meanwhile, nowhere is there more of a sense that things are indeed getting better than in New York City, the original U.S. epicenter of the pandemic. More than half of adult New Yorkers have had at least one vaccine shot, and cases and hospitalizations are dropping sharply. Museums are back to 50% capacity, and movie theaters are at 33%, with a planned return to full occupancy in two weeks. You can finally sit at the bar for a drink. "Shakespeare in the Park" is coming back, albeit with an abridged schedule. And it's once again difficult to score a reservation at your favorite brunch spot. "New York is not dead," says Christina Hansen, 40, a New York City carriage driver. "New York will never be dead." McCartney, who owns a townhouse on the Manhattan's Upper East Side, would probably share that optimism.—Mark Schoifet | 
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