The President of the United States, Joe Biden, announced on Thursday that he hopes that by the end of July all residents of that country will be vaccinated against COVID-19.
He explained that the pharmaceutical companies that will supply them have faster delivery times, so that 100 million doses, scheduled to be delivered by the end of June, will arrive in the last week of May.
The president said the United States has purchased 200 million additional doses over and above the doses it promised last month, and with this purchase the country is increasing the number of doses available by 50%, from 400 million doses to 600 million.
“When April arrives, almost anyone will be able to get vaccinated,” he said.
At 600 million doses, the United States is close to the amount needed to vaccinate its entire population – about 328 million people, according to the United States Census Bureau estimate. The COVID-19 vaccine requires two applications.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief scientific adviser to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, said Thursday morning that he hopes the vaccination will begin without restrictions in April.
Fauci assured him that he is basing his forecast on the likely approval of a third vaccine in addition to the two already on the market: Modernas and Pfizer-BioNTechs.
Also looking at the federal government’s measures to increase the capacity to distribute doses across the country, especially in pharmacy chains such as Walgreens and CVS, he said in an interview with the NBC network,
The epidemiologist added that it will take “several more months” to give the injections to all adults, although he said herd immunity could be achieved by the end of the summer.
Statements issued at the time that the United States has at least 475,000 deaths as a result of the pandemic.
Also this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the use of two masks significantly increases protection against coronavirus, with an increase of 92.5%. Fauci has even recommended its use in people who have already been vaccinated.
Additional doses are not immediately available. This means that the current dose deficit will continue in the short term, according to information from the White House and quoted by The Hill website.