what the new data shows. and here's abc's erielle reshef tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the race to vaccinate a country facing an alarming rise in the coronavirus. cases up 17% in the last two weeks with hospital admissions climbing. >> eventually i think the vaccines will win this race, but right now the variants are pulling ahead, and while we've got a lot of vaccinations happening, it's not going to be enough. >> reporter: in michigan today, the first confirmed case of the brazilian variant, as cases of the uk variant are surging. beaumont health now expanding its covid units after the number of patients quadrupled, many of them younger and unvaccinated. >> when you take an at-risk population with at-risk behaviors and a virus that's more transmissible, it's really a perfect storm. >> reporter: tonight, more evidence of the power of vaccines. pfizer reporting six months after the second dose, the vaccine was at least 91% protective against symptomatic disease and 95% protective against severe disease.