US exceeds 100 million Covid-19 vaccines administered

Biden’s plan is the strongest sign that the government is confident that the current vaccine shortage will ease in the coming weeks. But taking the United States to the stage where health guidelines will bless people who can meet in small groups by July 4, a goal defended by Biden on Thursday, will face challenges.

The United States needs to find enough health professionals to deliver the vaccines and create more mass vaccination sites. Authorities must work to ensure that underserved communities receive the vaccine and the hesitation to get them is overcome. States will have to prepare for the task, although some are still struggling with blocking compromise sites.

“We will have to drastically increase our capacity, because we are not in that capacity right now,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said during a news conference on Friday about achieving the May 1 goal.

For Biden, there is a political risk that the public will see the May 1 target as an expectation that they will get the vaccine by then – rather than merely being eligible until then – since vaccinations are likely to continue throughout the summer.

“The vaccine will not be in people’s arms on May 1, but it will be available,” said Michael Osterholm, a disease expert at the University of Minnesota who advised the Biden transition team on Covid-19. “One of my biggest fears is getting enough vaccines, but not having people who get them.”

The administration can legally compel states to make all adults eligible by a certain date, because the vaccines have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration under an emergency use permit that allows the agency to release treatments in a declared emergency, said Nicholas Bagley, of the University of Michigan Professor of Law.

Because of the authorization, the Biden government has ample discretion to establish the conditions for who should get the vaccines, he said.

“The government has the authority to be more prescriptive, if it wants to,” said Bagley.

In the past few days, the United States has administered more than 2 million doses a day. The shot made by Pfizer Inc.

and BioNTech SE has been administered more frequently in the United States, with more than 50.9 million doses administered so far, according to data from the CDC, while Moderna Inc.’s

the vaccine has been administered more than 49.1 million times. The Johnson & Johnson single dose injection was administered more than 870,000 times.

Biden announced plans this week to secure an additional 100 million doses of the J&J vaccine, doubling the company’s commitment. The government has contracts with Pfizer and Moderna to supply 600 million doses of its two-dose vaccines.

The White House said on Friday it would expand the number of people qualified to administer vaccines across the country. Newly eligible vaccinators will include dentists, veterinarians, emergency medical technicians and students in professional health care areas, among other professionals.

The Biden administration also said it would make the vaccine available at more than 20,000 pharmacies across the country, as part of its federal pharmacy program, and more than double the number of federally supported mass vaccination sites. The administration will also launch a new website and a call center to help the public better locate where the vaccine supply is available.

Biden moved quickly to allocate funds for a $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, which was approved by Democrats in a party line vote and sanctioned by the president on Thursday. This legislation provides $ 7.5 billion for vaccine distribution, $ 48 billion for testing and contact tracking efforts, and more than $ 160 billion for schools and universities. The White House said the Department of Health and Human Services would immediately dedicate $ 650 million to expand testing to teachers, staff and students at K-8 schools to help them reopen.

“This law is not the end of our efforts, however. In my opinion, this is just the beginning, ”said Biden on Friday at a ceremony at the White House with Congressional leaders to commemorate the relief bill.

The government has steadily increased weekly remittances to states amid overwhelming demand. The White House said the weekly doses sent to states, tribes, territories and pharmacies are now more than 20 million.

“Supply is the main issue at the moment,” said Ajay Sethi, associate professor and epidemiologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who said that states can open eligibility for the next priority groups as supply increases, eventually including everyone. “In Wisconsin, vaccinators are operating well below capacity and continue to receive far fewer doses than requested.”

The different eligibility rules caused some confusion and allowed others to manipulate the system. At the moment, with multiple rankings of priority, many states have struggled to verify that people are eligible.

This week, New Yorkers aged 60 and over became eligible for vaccination, while in neighboring New Jersey, residents aged 65 and over are eligible. In Connecticut, the lowest age was set at 55.

Alaska has already made vaccines available to all adults. And Michigan said on Friday that all residents aged 16 and over will be eligible for the vaccine from April 5, although health officials have noted that it may take several weeks for anyone who wants the vaccine to get an appointment. . The Biden government said it would establish a federally supported mass vaccination site in Detroit, capable of delivering 6,000 vaccines a day.

Several state leaders, including Republican Georgia governor Brian Kemp and Connecticut Democratic governor Ned Lamont said this week that they support the May 1 change in eligibility.

The increase in the amount of the vaccine will improve the current situation so much that it should not hamper vaccination for high-risk people if they are competing against the general public on May 1 or after, said Leana Wen, professor of health policy at George Washington University.

“The Biden management must be very confident in the supply chain and the ability to increase distribution,” she said.

The administration also said that mobile units will be deployed to help bring the vaccine to people in rural areas or other areas with unfavorable medical care.

States were not informed in advance before Biden announced plans to open eligibility until May 1, said Marcus Plescia, medical director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers, which represents public health agencies. He said there is a risk that offering vaccines to all adults will overload the system and make it more difficult to help underserved communities obtain doses.

“We are likely to see some inequality,” he said. “The first to arrive, the first to serve is not a good recipe for equity.”

A White House official said that Jeff Zients, Biden’s coordinator at Covid-19, notified the governors in a phone call on Thursday afternoon, before the president’s speech.

With the supply of vaccines on the rise, some public health leaders said the biggest concern is getting enough people to receive the vaccine so that the United States can obtain collective immunity by the fall.

“Biden has set a clear goal and that is really comforting,” said Wen. “My biggest concern is that we will not achieve collective immunity until autumn because of complacency.”

Write to Stephanie Armor at [email protected], Sabrina Siddiqui at [email protected] and Talal Ansari at [email protected]