The ice blast in much of the US injected more confusion and frustration into the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Wednesday, just as it was picking up speed, restricting vaccine deliveries and forcing the cancellation of numerous vaccines across the country. parents.
In a large part of the country, including Deep South states like Georgia and Alabama, snowy and slippery weather has led to the closure of vaccination sites or delayed necessary shipments, with delays expected to continue for days.
In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the doses expected this week were delayed by the weather in other parts of the country, forcing the city to postpone 30,000 to 35,000 vaccination appointments.
A public health expert said the delays were unacceptable.
“The fact that vaccination centers take snowy days will only help things more than they already are,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Safety. “The virus doesn’t take snowy days.”
Adalja said that those responsible for vaccination efforts must find ways to be more resistant to the weather, “just as postmen can deliver mail through hail or snow.” He suggested that clinics use better contingency plans. The goal, he said, should be “a continuous vaccine assembly line going into people’s arms”.
Jo Dohogne, from Bartlett, Tennessee, said she had scheduled two appointments this week to receive her second dose of the Modern vaccine, but both were canceled due to bad weather.
Dohogne, 75, who has multiple sclerosis, said she felt abandoned when the six-week mark for her second dose approached after her first vaccination on January 14.
“I’m just stressed out … it’s like it’s been taking up my whole life,” said Dohogne.
After her vaccine appointment on Saturday was canceled, Dohogne said a friend of a neighbor helped her navigate the vaccine application process. But with no word on when she might get her second chance, Dohogne said she was “just frustrated and stressed”.
In Washington, COVID-19 White House coordinator Jeff Zients said that in places where vaccination sites have been closed, such as Texas, the government is encouraging locals to increase opening hours after they open.
“We want to make sure that, as we lose some time in some states for people to pick up needles from guns, our partners do everything they can to recover the lost ground,” he said.
Some shipments of the vaccine made by Pfizer were delayed in the South because of bad weather, but the company was not aware of any deterioration of the vaccine, said spokesman Eamonn Nolan. Pfizer’s vaccines, which must be kept frozen at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 34.4 degrees Fahrenheit), are shipped with dry ice in temperature-controlled containers that last up to 10 days without opening.
In southern Nevada, authorities reported that winter storms delayed the shipment of Modern vaccines scheduled to be administered as a second dose this week.
The US is vaccinating an average of 1.7 million Americans a day against COVID-19, compared to less than 1 million a month ago. New figures from the White House show a steady increase in the rate of vaccinations compared to President Joe Biden’s first month in office.
Much of the increase, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, comes from people receiving their second dose. The pace of first dose vaccinations has been quite stable in recent weeks, hovering around an average of 900,000 vaccines per day.
Biden is on track to exceed his goal of 100 million kicks in his first 100 days in office – although the pace is expected to increase even more to fulfill his plans to vaccinate almost all adults by the end of the summer.
The White House also said that the government will increase the genetic analysis of coronavirus samples from across the country to obtain information on where more infectious and potentially deadly mutations may be spreading.
In the face of frustrating delays, some people showed remarkable persistence. Fran Goldman, 90, of Seattle, told The Seattle Times that she walked 9.7 kilometers back and forth in the snow to get her vaccine.
Goldman said that after much effort, she finally secured a spot for Sunday morning, but on Friday and Saturday a strong storm passed, filling the streets with snowdrifts.
Goldman put on wool pants and put some warm layers on a short-sleeved shirt so that the nurse could reach his arm easily.
“It was not easy. It was a challenge, ”she said. She arrived at the appointment only five minutes late.
In other developments, Pennsylvania is experiencing a temporary shortage of second injections of the Modern vaccine after providers inadvertently used them as first doses. More than 100,000 people may have to reschedule their appointments.
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Noveck reported and from New York and Naishadham reported from Phoenix. Medical writer Linda A. Johnson contributed from Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, Jeff Martin from Atlanta and Michelle R. Smith from Providence, RI