Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical advisor for Covid-19, said on Thursday that most members of the general public could become eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine as early as April.
“As we enter March and April, the number of doses available will allow for a mass vaccination approach,” he said in an interview with “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie.
So far, states have prioritized vaccines for the elderly and health services and essential workers, as well as residents of long-term care facilities. Dr. Fauci said in the past that the vaccine’s availability would likely increase significantly during the spring.
“I imagine that when we get to April, that will be what I would call, for better writing, ‘public bidding’,” he said on Thursday. “That is, virtually anyone and anyone in any category can start getting vaccinated.”
It would take “a few more months” after that to put vaccines in the arms of most people, he said, adding that he hoped the vast majority of people in the United States could be vaccinated between mid and late summer.
Although the distribution of the vaccine in the United States has so far been plagued by confusion, difficulties and delays, the average number of vaccines administered daily has steadily increased since the end of December. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 1.56 million doses were administered on Wednesday, bringing the last seven-day average to more than 1.5 million a day.
The supply of vaccines is also growing, although it is still well below demand. Moderna and Pfizer, whose vaccines have been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, have gradually increased production. The FDA could authorize a single dose vaccine from Johnson & Johnson later this month, and other vaccines from Novavax and AstraZeneca could also be authorized for use in the U.S. in the spring.