Health officials trying to find an answer are amazed at reports that millions of available doses are not being used.
Health centers in the US have had to cancel thousands of appointments to provide the covid-19 vaccine despite a shortage of doses, leading to desperation and unanswered questions from health officials.
The situation is especially dire in Texas, which produces an average of about 20,000 new cases per day, raising concerns as to whether officials can slow the spread if they can’t get the vaccines they badly need to do so, said The New Saturday. Times.
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Houston, the country’s fourth-largest city, faces a similar problem when hospitals serving some of the poorest residents are without vaccine, leading some public health experts to question why doses are not available to vulnerable communities, the paper said. also notes.
It also highlights that the sense of chaos in distribution, not just in Texas but several states, shows how local officials are struggling to fill the void left by lack until Joe took office this week as president. Biden, for a comprehensive response at the federal level.
Health officials trying to find an answer are amazed at reports that millions of available doses are not being used.
Friday morning, nearly 39.9 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines had been distributed to state and local governments, but according to the Centers. For Disease Control and Prevention, only about 19.1 million doses had been administered to patients. Times also highlights.
Remember, Pfizer and Moderna have agreed to supply this country with 100 million doses of vaccines, and the companies are competing to make the vaccines, releasing between 12 million and 18 million doses per week.
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The paper mentions similar situations of cancellation of appointments in other states, including Hawaii, where a hospital in Maui canceled 5,000 first-dose appointments and put an additional 15,000 requests on hold.
The New York newspaper notes that problems with the distribution of already available doses appear to be responsible for much of the acute shortage of vaccines that is affecting some parts of the country and available to people over the age of 65.
“I think this is really a continuation of the ramifications of the lack of a coordinated federal response. In fact, cities and counties were left alone to deal with this pandemic, ”said Dr. Grant Colfax, head of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, to the newspaper.