New coronavirus infections rose over the past week in 19 states while holding steady nationwide.

The big picture: The U.S. is in a race to vaccinate as many Americans as possible before variants of COVID-19, fueled by quick reopening, can cause a new wave of rising caseloads.

By the numbers: The U.S. is now averaging about 53,000 new cases per day — essentially unchanged from last week’s average. Cases have been holding steady in this range for several weeks.

• 19 states saw their average daily cases increase over the past week, and 14 states saw their numbers fall. The biggest improvements were in Arizona and Nevada, both of which saw new cases drop by about 45%.
• Michigan, on the other hand, took the biggest step backward, with a 50% rise in new cases.

What we’re watching: The U.S. has administered an average of 2.5 million vaccine doses per day over the past week, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.

• Vaccinations are growing a whole lot faster than cases, and will ultimately bring about the end of this pandemic. But it will require non-vaccine interventions — like masks and social distancing — to avoid another wave of rising infections while vaccines continue to roll out.

Each week, Axios tracks the change in new infections in each state. We use a seven-day average to minimize the effects of day-to-day discrepancies in states’ reporting.