The number of vaccinations has been increasing every week. On Thursday, nearly 46.4 million doses of vaccines were administered in the United States, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the moment, those eligible have largely been limited to the elderly, health professionals and the most vulnerable people due to comorbidities.
But in April, this access could expand to the general public, and most Americans can be vaccinated in the middle or late summer, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the NBC’s “Today” program.
In the next 30 days alone, the National Association of Drug Stores expects pharmacies to administer more than 100 million doses.
The increase in vaccinations is taking place amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus variants. And a fundamental question is whether vaccines will work on variants.
Dr. Barney Graham, head of the laboratory and deputy director of the NIH Vaccine Research Center, told President Joe Biden on Thursday that the antibodies that vaccines produce against the virus can still attack him, even if the virus has undergone some mutations.
“Antibodies have a lot of places to bind. They can eventually lose their effectiveness, but I think we are fine for now until additional mutations are accumulated,” said Graham.
Vaccinations speeding up the pace
Since the first injection on December 14, the average daily rate of administration of the coronavirus vaccine in the USA has been increasing every week.
An average of 359,000 doses given each day in the first week of January has grown to about 1.6 million doses a day this week.
And the pace is expected to increase further in March and April, allowing a broader segment of the population to become eligible, said Fauci.
“I imagine that when we get to April, that’s what I would ask, you know, for a better writing, hunting season,” said Fauci. “That is, virtually anyone and everyone in any category can start getting vaccinated.”
Biden, meanwhile, said on Thursday that the United States is in the process of providing vaccines to 300 million Americans “by the end of July”.
Biden also announced that the United States has purchased additional vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer.
States loosen their restrictions on coronavirus
Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths have been decreasing after outbreaks around the holidays; and in doing so, some states are abandoning their restrictions.
Nevada will begin a new plan next week with the goal of phasing out state rules against meetings until May 1. As of Monday, most companies and houses of worship will be able to hold up to 100 people, or 35% of normal capacity. If coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to decline, capacity will increase to 50% on March 15.
“If we all want to see this transition to local control, we will work together to continue to decrease the transmission of our community,” said Governor Steve Sisolak on Thursday.
Limitations on internal meetings in Wyoming will be increased to 25% capacity or 500 people on Monday, and the limits for sporting events, artistic performances, restaurants and gyms will be relaxed, said Governor Mark Gordon.
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed a bill protecting companies and houses of worship from legal liability for the Covid-19 transmission, provided they take steps to follow public health guidelines and announced that he would not extend the mask mandate across the state.
“The mask’s term expires on Friday,” said the governor, adding, “Since we are not yet out of danger, I will continue to wear a mask and encourage all Montana residents to do the same.”
Although the numbers have improved, health experts have warned that precautions are still important to keep the spread of more transmissible variants limited.
Asylums with more black residents report more deaths from coronavirus
Meanwhile, a new study reveals that the impact of the pandemic was disproportionately greater for the black and Latino populations in the United States.
Researchers in the study in the journal JAMA Network Open noted that nursing homes with more white residents had better health for residents, higher star ratings, more nursing hours and were located in counties with fewer cases of coronavirus per capita.
And they found that the average number of coronavirus deaths was more than three times higher in nursing homes with the highest proportion of black residents compared to those with the highest proportion of white residents.
To help contain future outbreaks, the researchers suggest that resources should be focused on supporting nursing homes with more non-white residents.
CNN’s Samira Said, Deidre McPhillips, Maggie Fox, Andy Rose, Jason Hanna, Christina Maxouris Konstantin Toropin and Lauren Mascarenhas contributed to this report.