The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday said that the U.S. is seeing a “hopeful decline” in COVID-19 cases, signaling the vaccination effort might be contributing to the trend.

During a press briefing, Rochelle Walensky called attention to declines in the seven-day averages of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

The U.S. saw a 21 percent drop in daily confirmed infections to 54,400 cases per day compared with the previous seven-day average. Hospitalizations also fell by 9 percent to a seven-day average of 5,100. The average for deaths reached 660 per day, amounting to a 6 percent decrease. 

Walensky suggested that the rollout of the vaccine across the country may explain the “stabilizing” of the curve in cases. 

“Each day, more and more Americans are rolling up their sleeves and getting vaccinated and likely contributing to these very positive trends,” she said during the briefing.

As of Tuesday morning, almost 140 million adults, or 54 percent, have received at least one shot, and more than 96 million, or 37 percent, are considered fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.  

The positive downward trends came on the same day that the CDC announced new mask guidance for fully vaccinated individuals, saying they can be outside without a mask in small groups and uncrowded areas. 

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