About 60% of the US population has reduced protection against COVID-19, CDC data shows

• NBC News analyzed the most recent CDC data on the vaccination status of people in the US.
• About 60% of the US population are heading into winter with reduced protection against COVID-19.

An analysis of data from the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) suggests that around 60% of the US population could be entering the winter season with reduced protection against COVID-19.

NBC News carried out the analysis using CDC data from November 17.

It showed that a booster was recommended for 97,875,391 people. This number consisted of Americans who were fully vaccinated with Pfizer and Moderna more than six months ago and Johnson & Johnson more than two months ago.

The recipients are now are within the boundary of those at risk for reduced vaccine efficacy, the outlet reported.

The figure also included people who were only partially vaccinated.

Those with reduced or no protection, including more than 100 million Americans who have not received the vaccine, make up nearly 60% of the US population, according to NBC News.

On Friday, the FDA expanded its emergency authorization to include booster shots of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for all adults.

Americans who are over 65 or in higher-risk categories were already eligible for the booster.

The analysis comes after an NBC interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday, where the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases stated: "What we're starting to see now is an uptick in hospitalizations among people who've been vaccinated but not boosted."

Similar reports came from the White House COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday. Elderly people and residents of long-term care facilities were among the first to be vaccinated last January, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director.

The highest risk remains among the unvaccinated, who are still 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those who are fully vaccinated.

Walensky said US hospitals are experiencing an "increase in emergency department visits among adults 65 and older, which are now again higher than they are for younger age groups."

In the briefing, Walensky and Fauci both insisted that boosters were working and pressed anyone who was eligible to get their shots ahead of the busy holiday season.

CDC data states that nearly 10% of the US population has already received their booster shots.