The launch of the vaccine is not going as planned so far and has plunged headlong into resource shortages and staffing problems caused by the furious pandemic.
Why does it matter: The Trump administration’s goal of vaccinating 20 million people by the end of the year has dropped sharply, raising concerns about how long it can take until enough people are vaccinated in the United States for life to return to normal.
By numbers: 1.3% of the US population was vaccinated and 33% of the shots distributed to the states were administered, according to a Bloomberg analysis of CDC data.
- Operation Warp Speed distributed 13 million doses, about 7 million less than its target. Approximately 4.3 million doses were administered.
Game status: State officials have given several reasons why vaccinations have moved at a slower pace than expected, according to the New York Times.
- The increase in the number of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths has overwhelmed medical institutions, preventing them from being able to administer vaccines.
- Many states have reserved vaccine doses for nursing homes and long-term care facilities, slowing distribution.
- The holidays also led to a reduction in the number of hours and limited staff in clinics.
Yes but: NIAID Director Anthony Fauci told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that he had seen “a glimmer of hope” after 1.5 million doses in the last 72 hours, a significant increase in the vaccination rate.
In light of this slow release, some experts simply want to prioritize getting more shots in the arms – no matter what weapons they are – as the pandemic gets worse.
News management: The head of Operation Warp Speed, Moncef Slaoui, said yesterday that the administration is considering halving the dose of each shot of the Moderna vaccine to double the number of people who could receive it on the NYT.
And some experts I argue that the second blow should be delayed.
- “It’s time to change the plan; we should give people a single vaccination now and postpone the second shot until more doses of vaccine are available,” UCSF’s Robert Wachter and Ashish Jha wrote yesterday. , in a publication published by the Washington Post.
Texas Department of Health recently sent a letter to vaccine providers urging them to vaccinate as many people as possible as soon as possible.
- “If, in a given situation, all available and willing persons 1A and 1B have been served, we urge you to pivot again and offer the vaccine to any additional available and willing person, regardless of their priority designation,” the commissioner wrote.
Bottom line: “A vaccine that sits on a shelf weekly, waiting for its perfect recipient, does not help eliminate the pandemic,” former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb wrote in an article published by the WSJ.