The record day comes as the federal government and states face criticism of vaccine distribution efforts.
Many health systems in the Chicago area say they do not know when they will receive their next shipment of vaccines, and the city mayor is again blaming the federal government for poor handling.
The United States overcame more than 20 million COVID-19 infections by the time the pandemic reached its second calendar year.
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“We have more cases, we have more hospitalizations, we have trips that will lead to new outbreaks in January. Now we have this new version of the virus that will spread more easily and make our hospitals even more crowded ”, Dr. Megan Ranney, emergency doctor at Brown University.
And that is at the beginning of the most lethal month of the pandemic, as more than 1,000 Americans have died of coronavirus a day since December 1.
As Indiana ends its most lethal week, city and state officials express their concerns that vaccine shipments are not arriving as promised, and nowhere near fast enough.
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“Chicago has already distributed> 95% of the doses of the COVID-19 vaccine it has received. However, at the current dose allocation rate from the federal government, it would take 71 weeks – almost a year and a half – to fully vaccinate the entire city. We need more vaccine. Now, “Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a tweet on Saturday.
On Sunday, outgoing President Donald Trump accessed Twitter to claim that, “Vaccines are being delivered to states by the Federal Government much faster than they can be administered!”
Vaccines are being delivered to states by the Federal Government much faster than they can be administered!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2021
“This is a logistical failure,” said Dr. Ranney.
Across the country, only about 4.2 million Americans have been vaccinated so far, which is 79% less than the Trump administration’s target of 20 million by the new year.
“So it’s not working and no state has got it right,” said Republican Senator Mitt Romney.
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While health systems work to get their employees and first responders vaccinated as quickly as possible, Will County asks residents to register online to streamline the process once the vaccine is more widely available.
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