NEW YORK (AP) – The urge to inoculate Americans with coronavirus is hampered by a series of states reporting that they no longer have the vaccine and tens of thousands of people who have managed to get appointments for a first dose have been canceled.
Karen Stachowiak, a first-grade teacher in the Buffalo area, spent nearly five hours on the state hotline and website to set up a meeting for Wednesday, only to tell her it was canceled. Erie County Health Department said it had scratched vaccinations for more than 8,000 people in recent days due to inadequate supplies.
“It’s stressful because I was so close. And my other friends, who are teachers, were able to book meetings for last Saturday, “said Stachowiak. “So many people enter theirs and then it’s like, ‘No, I have to wait.'”
The reason for the apparent mismatch between supply and demand in the US was unclear, but last week the Department of Health and Human Services suggested that states had unrealistic expectations of how much vaccine was on the road.
In any case, new shipments are shipped every week and both the government and the drug manufacturers have said that there are large quantities in the pipeline.
The shortage comes as states dramatically step up their immunization efforts toward the federal government to reach people 65 and older, along with others. More than 400,000 deaths in the United States have been blamed on the virus.
President Joe Biden, who was inaugurated on Wednesday, immediately came under pressure to fix things. He made it clear that his administration would take a stronger hand in tackling the crisis and promised to manage 100 million shots in its first 100 days.
Less than half of the 36 million doses distributed to states by the federal government have been administered so far, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public health officials said the gap could reflect record-keeping delays, as well as disorder and other deficiencies at various levels of government in obtaining firearms.
In a statement, HHS said jurisdictions have actually received about a 5% increase in vaccine allocations this week from what they have achieved in the past two weeks.
Countries across Europe also have problems getting enough doses to provide protection against a virus that is now appearing in new, more contagious variants around the world.
Pfizer said last week that it would temporarily reduce deliveries to Europe and Canada while improving capacity at its plant in Belgium, which supplies all photos shipped outside the United States. Pfizer’s main US vaccine manufacturing site is in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
In the US, some states have suggested it could run out by Thursday and it is unclear when new doses will arrive.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that the city had to cancel 23,000 meetings for people waiting for the first dose this week. The New York Police Department has suspended vaccinations for the first time for its officers.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he expects the state to run out of vaccine supplies within two to three days for people seeking their first dose.
“What is clear now is that we will go from week to week and you will see a steady pattern of staying practical, waiting for next week’s allocation and starting again,” he said. He urged health care institutions not to schedule appointments to release the vaccine they have not yet allocated.
In Florida, local media reported a similar problem in the Miami area, where the Baptist Health Care system canceled appointments for the first doses.
“I could have blown the tip of my head out of steam,” Charlotte Reeve, 76, told The Miami Herald. “I am also a fairly recent widow. For me, being locked up alone in my house is just devastating for me. … I feel like I’ve just been cut to my knees again. ”
The San Francisco Department of Health said it was possible to run out of vaccines on Thursday, in part because the state gave up administering a batch of Moderna fires after several health workers suffered what could have been a bad reaction. The county health department received 12,000 doses last week, but less than 2,000 this week.
In a statement, Moderna said it was about to deliver 100 million doses by the end of the first quarter of the year and 200 million by the end of the second quarter.
Pfizer, the maker of the other vaccine used in the United States, said it had properly complied with government orders in the past two weeks. He said he is working non-stop to produce millions of doses every day and has no plans to meet his commitment to deliver 200 million by the end of July.
West Virginia, which carried out one of the fastest vaccinations in the country, said it had not received an expected dose increase this week. With 99.6% of the first handy doses already administered, officials claim more.
“We are without vaccines here,” said Republican Gov. Jim Justice, worried that other states have unused doses. “We have them all in people’s arms and we have done exactly what we should have done. … I think performance should be rewarded. ”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has pleaded with the new Biden administration for more doses, as the state struggles with high hospitalizations and more than 10,000 deaths.
“We don’t lack infrastructure,” DeWine said in a letter. “We’re missing the vaccine.”
Hawaiian leaders have complained that the state received 59,000 doses last week, but expect only about 32,000 this week.
In New York State, Barbara Carr, a 72-year-old retired woman from Buffalo, was disturbed when her appointment for the Thursday vaccine was canceled. But he quickly managed to get another appointment at a pharmacy and received the first dose.
She is now worried about her two children, who are teachers. Their appointments have been canceled.
“They were unlucky with rescheduling, no phone calls, no communications other than ‘You’re canceled,'” Carr said. “Poor teachers. … I can stay home so I can hide from the virus. I can not. ”
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Hill reported from Albany, New York.