(Newser)
– With December coming to an end, the United States is lagging far behind in its goal of vaccinating 20 million people by the end of the month. According to the CDC, about 11.4 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been distributed, but only 2.1 million have been administered. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses administered weeks apart. Government officials admitted that implementation was slower than expected, although they say a delay in reporting means that the number of people vaccinated is greater than the CDC figures show, reports CNBC. But even with a possible under-count, the United States “is certainly not in the numbers we wanted at the end of December,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN Tuesday,
“Even if you underestimate 2 million as an under count, how much under count could it be?” Fauci said. “So we are below where we want to be.” President-elect Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the effort was “far behind.” He warned that “if it continues to move as it is now, it will take years, not months, to vaccinate the American people,” reports ABC. He promised that when he takes office next month, he will “move heaven and earth” to meet his government’s goal of firing 100 million shots in its first 100 days as president. He said the mass vaccination program would take “more time than the Trump administration’s promises suggested”, but added, “This will be the biggest operational challenge we have ever faced as a nation, and we will get it done.” (Biden plans to invoke the Defense Production Act to speed things up.)