“Nothing about this news says we can’t beat that,” Andy White, senior White House advisor to Covid Response, told CNN newspaper Wolf Blitzer. “It just means that we need more tools and to be more united to do this.”
“We are going to have to stay one step ahead of these mutations,” said Slavitt. “We will need processes to continue developing tests, therapies and vaccines to ensure that if the virus undergoes a small mutation, as with flu, we can be ahead of it.”
Experts say they believe the current vaccines will still be effective against the variants, but officials are still working to bridge the gap between the doses available and the number administered to Americans.
“We are changing the laws to allow more people to vaccinate. We are sending remittances directly to pharmacies,” said Slavitt. “We are invoking the Defense Production Law and we have been doing this to make more syringes and other equipment available to people. We are working with states hand in hand every day to find more vaccines.
“There is no idea that we will not consider,” he added.
States work to overcome the obstacle to distribution
At the state level, leaders followed different paths in addressing delays in the delivery and administration of vaccines.
For example, authorities in Connecticut administered 364,255 total doses – meaning that 35% of people aged 75 and over were vaccinated in the state.
“Connecticut remains a leader in vaccinating people,” Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said during his Covid-19 news conference on Thursday, adding that the Biden government’s pledge to increase state distribution by 16 % means that more people will be vaccinated more quickly.
Next week, the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington will become Kentucky’s first regional vaccination site, said Governor Andy Beshear on Thursday. The site will vaccinate 3,000 residents in the first week, prioritizing those aged 70 and over.
But in Ohio, officials will have to change plans because the state wants students to return to classes in March.
Although vaccine supplies in the state are limited, Ohio has withdrawn vaccines from its allocation to reserve about 55,000 for staff at the state’s K-12 school each week, said Governor Mike DeWine.
Meanwhile, Idaho calls for more transparency on how his current distribution plan is doing, said Governor Brad Little.
“Frankly, we need a clearer picture to further illuminate the administration of the vaccine,” Little said during a news conference on Thursday in Boise.
His new order requires private health companies and public health districts to report to the state on a weekly basis how many doses he has received, how many doses have been used and how many doses are still in stock. The figures will be published on the state’s Covid-19 public online panel.
Part of the goal is to ensure that providers meet the state goal of having each available dose used within seven days of delivery.
Symptoms can last for months, experts say
As the pandemic approaches a year in the United States, health experts say they are learning more about “Long Covid”, a condition in which some patients experience symptoms months after contracting the virus.
“People with long Covid often have reports of severe and persistent fatigue, headaches and cerebral fog, which is defined as mild subjective cognitive and cognitive impairment, approximately four weeks after the acute illness,” Dr. Alfonso Hernandez-Romieu, a member of the Covid-19 Disease Control and Prevention Response Team Centers, said during a CDC briefing on Thursday.
Doctors have reported that the severity of Covid-19 disease may have little impact on whether patients experience prolonged Covid symptoms, said Hernandez-Romieu. He noted that the CDC is working to better understand the long Covid.
Dr. Allison Navis, an assistant professor at the Icahn School of Medicine on Mount Sinai in New York City, said that brain fog is one of the most common symptoms. She said doctors observed these symptoms in younger patients – including children and adolescents – who had mild coronavirus and were previously healthy.
She said patients could benefit from “symptomatic and supportive” treatment, including specific medications, cognitive rehabilitation, increased hydration and exercise limitation. She emphasized that patients should get enough sleep and take care of their mental health.
“Although we don’t know what is causing these symptoms, they are very real for patients, and we are seeing patients improve,” said Navis.
CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas, Maggie Fox, Sahar Akbarzai, Rebekah Riess and Andy Rose contributed to this report.