NEW YORK (AP) – The urge to vaccinate Americans against coronavirus is hitting an obstacle: several states are reporting they are running out of vaccines, and tens of thousands of people who have managed to schedule a first dose are seeing them canceled.
Karen Stachowiak, a first-grade teacher in the Buffalo area, spent nearly five hours on the state hotline and on the website to arrange a meeting on Wednesday, only to be told it was canceled. The Erie County Health Department said it has streaked vaccines for more than 8,000 people in the past few days due to inadequate supplies.
“It’s stressful because I was so close. And my other friends who are teachers, they managed to make an appointment for last Saturday, ”said Stachowiak. “So many people are doing it, and then it’s like, ‘No, I have to wait.'”
The reason for the apparent mismatch between supply and demand in the U.S. was unclear, but last week the Department of Health and Human Services suggested that states had unrealistic expectations about the amount of vaccine on the way.
In any case, new shipments come out every week, and both the government and pharmaceutical companies have said there are large quantities in the pipeline.
The scarcity comes as states dramatically increase their vaccination initiatives, under the guidance of the federal government, to reach people aged 65 and over, along with some others. More than 400,000 deaths in the United States have been attributed to the virus.
President Joe Biden, who took office on Wednesday, was immediately under pressure to fix things. He made it clear that his government will have a stronger hand in attacking the crisis and promised to administer 100 million shots in its first 100 days.
Less than half of the 36 million doses distributed to states by the federal government have so far been administered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public health officials said the gap could reflect delays in record keeping, as well as disorder and other failures at various levels of government to actually be able to vaccinate weapons.
In a statement, HHS said jurisdictions actually received an increase of about 5% in vaccine allocations this week, compared to what they received in recent weeks.
European countries are also having problems receiving enough doses to provide protection against a virus that is now appearing in new, more contagious variants around the globe.
Pfizer said last week that it would temporarily reduce deliveries to Europe and Canada while increasing the capacity of its factory in Belgium, which supplies all shots delivered outside the United States. Pfizer’s primary vaccine manufacturing facility for the US is in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
In the US, some states have suggested that they may end on Thursday and it is unclear when new doses will arrive.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Wednesday that the city had to cancel 23,000 appointments for people waiting for their first dose this week. The New York Police Department suspended the initial vaccination of its officers.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he hoped the state would run out of its vaccine supply in two or three days for people seeking the first dose.
“What is clear now is that we will be going from week to week, and you will see a constant pattern of basically running out, waiting for next week’s allocation and starting over,” he said. He urged health centers not to schedule appointments to dispense with the vaccine that have not yet been allocated.
In Florida, local media reported a similar problem in the Miami area, where the Baptist Health health system canceled appointments for the first few doses.
“I could have popped the top of my head with steam,” Charlotte Reeve, 76, told The Miami Herald. “I am also a very recent widow. For me, having to be locked up in my house alone is devastating to me. … I feel like I just cut my knees again. “
The San Francisco health department said it would likely run out of vaccine on Thursday, in part because the state gave up on administering a batch of injections of Moderna after several health professionals suffered what may have been a negative 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 on track 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 U.S., said it had properly followed government orders in the past two weeks. She said she is working 24 hours a day to produce millions more doses each day and does not anticipate any problems meeting her commitment to deliver 200 million by the end of July.
West Virginia, which ran one of the nation’s fastest vaccination campaigns, said it did not receive an expected dose increase this week. With 99.6% of the first doses in hand already administered, the authorities are calling for more.
“Here we are without vaccines,” said Republican Governor Jim Justice, worrying that other states have unused doses. “We have them all in people’s arms and we did exactly what we should have done. … I think performance should be rewarded. “
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine pleaded with the new Biden government for more doses, while the state struggles with high hospitalizations and a death toll that has exceeded 10,000.
“There is no lack of infrastructure,” said DeWine in a letter. “The vaccine is missing.”
Hawaii leaders complained that the state received 59,000 doses last week, but expects only about 32,000 this week.
In New York State, Barbara Carr, a 72-year-old retiree from Buffalo, was distraught when her vaccination appointment for Thursday was canceled. But she quickly got another appointment at a pharmacy and received her first dose.
Now she is concerned about her two children, who are teachers. Their appointments have been canceled.
“They were unlucky with rescheduling, without calls, without any communication other than ‘You’re canceled’,” said Carr. “The poor teachers. … I can stay at home to hide from the virus. They can not. “
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Hill reported from Albany, New York.