Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, asked the United States on Sunday to vaccinate as many people over 65 as possible before a potential increase in COVID-19 caused by the newly detected strain for the first time in England.
The big picture: About 1.3 million doses a day are being administered on average, according to a New York Times analysis – on track with President Biden’s goal of giving Americans 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines out of 100 days. But implantation in the states was difficult.
- The Biden government is still trying to find more than 20 million doses of vaccines distributed to states, reports Politico. The states are relying on county health departments and local officials to provide inoculations, since the CDC vaccine administration website is supposed to fail and is not widely used.
What is he saying: “Let me say now, we have to call an audible, “said Osterholm, referring to the vaccine distribution plan in the United States.” The fact is that the peak that is likely to occur with this new England variant will happen in the next 6 to 14 weeks. “
- “And if we see this happening, what my 45 years in the trenches tell us that we will see, we will see something that we have not yet seen in this country. England, for example, is hospitalizing twice as many people as ever in our largest number. “
- “So we still want to get two doses in all, but I think now, before this increase, we need to take as much of a dose in as many people over 65 as possible to reduce serious illnesses and deaths that are going to occur in the next few weeks. “
Of importance: Although Osterholm, in line with the CDC, believes that the United Kingdom strain may become the dominant strain of coronavirus in the United States, he added that the variant “has not shown its ability to escape vaccine protection”, although it has been shown more transmissible.
Conclusion: “I mean, imagine where we are, Chuck, now. You and I are sitting on this beach where it’s 70 degrees, perfectly blue sky, gentle breeze. But I see that hurricane five, category five or higher, 450 miles from the coast, “said Osterholm.