WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Half of the total U.S. population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the data updated Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on its website.

As of Friday, 50 percent of the U.S. population - more than 165.9 million people - had been fully vaccinated against the virus. More than 193.7 million, or 58.4 percent of all Americans, have gotten at least one dose, showed the data.

The 50 percent milestone came amid a surge in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in parts of the United States, driven largely by the delta variant.

"America can beat the Delta variant just as we beat the original COVID-19," President Joe Biden said at the White house on Friday, saying "it's a pandemic of the unvaccinated."

"We can do this, so wear a mask when recommended, get vaccinated today. All of that will save lives and it means we're not going to have the same kind of economic damage we've seen when COVID-19 began," he said.

Earlier this week, 70 percent of U.S. adults have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, a month behind President Joe Biden's Fourth of July goal.

The first COVID-19 vaccine in the United States was administered on Dec. 14, 2020.