The United States may see a “hunting season” for doses of the COVID-19 vaccine until April, said Dr. Anthony Fauci on Thursday, an optimistic forecast that arises as states continue to clamor for additional supplies to increase their implementations. .
Although the country is still far from administering doses to everyone who needs it by then, Fauci said he believed that conditions would improve to the point where health officials began to inoculate the general population.
“I imagine that, when we get to April, this will be what I would call, for better writing, ‘public bidding’ – that is, practically everyone and anyone in any category could start getting vaccinated”, says the head of government US infectious disease specialist said during an appearance on NBC’s “Today” program.
“From then on, it would probably take several more months just logistically to put the vaccine in people’s arms, so that, with luck, when we arrive in the middle and at the end of the summer, we could have achieved the goal of what we are talking about: Namely, the overwhelming majority of people in this country having been vaccinated. “
At this point, only selected groups are eligible to receive vaccines – a strategic decision designed to ensure health and some frontline workers, as well as those most at risk of suffering the most serious consequences of COVID-19, are first in line .
In California, anyone who works in the healthcare field, lives in long-term care facilities or is 65 or older can be vaccinated. Teachers, daycare centers and other educators, food and agriculture workers and members of the police are also eligible – although many local health departments have not yet allowed these groups to register for consultations, as vaccine supplies remain scarce.
Health officials across the country say supply is the biggest obstacle to accelerating vaccinations. Dose allocations vary from week to week, and until recently, employees received little insight into what their shipments would look like, even a few weeks into the future, making long-term planning a challenge.
Fauci, however, said he hopes the vaccine’s distribution will accelerate in the coming months.
“If you look at what is going to happen when we get into March and April, the number of doses available will allow much more of a mass vaccination approach, which is actually much faster than what you are seeing now,” he said. “If you compare it now to what we were doing literally a month ago, the climb was really considerable.”
Across the country, nearly 66 million doses of vaccines have been delivered and about 44.8 million have been administered, according to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Federal officials said this week they would further increase the allocation of weekly vaccines across the country by 500,000 doses, from 10.5 million to 11 million.
This compares to the 8.6 million doses that were being administered three weeks ago, said Jeff Zients, who heads President Biden’s task force at COVID-19.
“We launched efforts to bring more vaccines to pharmacies and community health centers. And we are building new vaccination posts from scratch, in stadiums, community centers, school academies and parking lots across the country, ”he said during a news conference on Wednesday.
These efforts include the creation of two federally supported mass vaccination sites in Cal State Los Angeles and the Oakland Coliseum. Both are scheduled to open next week and will consist mainly of federal officials.
Military officials said on Wednesday that 222 Ft. Carson soldiers will be deployed to support the LA location.
“Getting vaccines – vaccines – in people’s arms is the mission,” said Lt. Gen. Laura Richardson, commander of the United States Army in a statement. “And this team, here on behalf of the governor and the state, has the capacity to vaccinate thousands of people each day.”
The recently announced increase in weekly allocation amounts to about 50,000 additional doses for California, said Governor Gavin Newsom.
It is a welcome incentive, but, he acknowledged, “it is not enough”.
The state is receiving just over 1 million doses a week, Newsom said. At that rate, it would take many months to receive enough doses to inoculate a significant portion of California’s approximately 40 million residents – because both vaccines currently available require two doses.
“The issue of vaccines is a matter of supply available across the country,” Newsom said at a news conference on Wednesday. “The scarcity issue is real.”
About 7.6 million total doses of vaccines have been delivered to local public health departments and medical providers across the state, and nearly 5.1 million have been administered, according to data compiled by The Times.