The U.S. had no trouble hitting the alarming target of 20 million coronavirus cases, but reaching the federal government’s own goal of vaccinating 20 million people by the end of 2020 proved to be a major problem.
Only less than three million Americans were vaccinated by the time Crystal-encrusted B fell in New York’s almost deserted Times Square at midnight on New Year’s Eve to mark the end of the New Year.
The vaccine is now available in the U.S. The distribution is routinely being described as “chaos”, a criticism of which incompetent officials are trying to “fix”.
In the last three days of 2020 alone, the U.S. More than 10,000 people were killed in the country, bringing the national death toll to close to 350,000 so far, including the worst 24-hour toll of the entire epidemic, while more than 3,700 people died last Wednesday. Johns Hopkins University data.
So there is great hope of fighting the vaccine outbreak. But experts are warning that millions more could die if the inoculation process does not get back on track quickly and vigorously.
“Basically, the federal government is considering a vaccine rollout,” said Ashish Zai, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health.
“They thought their job was done when the vaccine arrived in the states, and there really was no well-described plan.”
He added: “What America is suffering from is the result of the incompetence of the federal leadership – the whole epidemic has been replaced by a group of people, not just Donald Trump – who do not understand how things work and cannot achieve something effective. Work your way up. ”
Zhao noted that the group did not include Anthony Fauci, a top U.S. infectious disease specialist, or Deborah Burks, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator.
If the rollout continues at the current pace, Zhao said, it could take “many, many months and years” for the nation to meet vaccination targets.
And if this delay continues for months, it could lead to U.S. He warned that “many thousands more could be lost.”
An analysis by NBC earlier this week found that at current vaccination rates, “it would take about 10 years to inoculate enough Americans to control the epidemic.”
The new vaccines that have so far flowed west from Pfizer / Bioentech, Moderna and Oxford University / AstraZeneca are the lifeline, with further testing underway.
Bruce Y. Lee, a professor at the QNU Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy in New York, said the vaccine appears to reduce the risk of pathological colic.
But he warned: “Every week, two weeks, three weeks of delays, when cases are moving forward, cost lives – and especially if we’re talking about healthcare professionals.”
U.S. In many areas people are vaccinated because of the combination of neglected meager funds and scattered logistics.
U.S. In public health is done with meager financial assistance. Local and state officials have long warned federal authorities that they need more than an additional bn 8bn to build infrastructure to gain access to weapons. Instead, the White House gave states only 40 340 million to prepare for vaccinations.
For months, some congressional legislators provided more money for vaccine distribution. It wasn’t until last Sunday, when the new coronavirus aid bill, delayed by Trump, was signed, that an additional 8 8 billion in funding came in, State News explains.
However, more money to the states will not solve the problem completely. Experts say a unified, national plan is needed to eliminate logistical snags.
“Not enough doses have been manufactured and distributed,” said Lee, who is also executive director of CNYY at Pune Heath Informatics, Computational and Operations Research.
“Most of the doses that have been distributed have not been administered. They’re getting either [caught] In the supply chain … or not administering, which is not very surprising, because there is no clear, coordinated national plan. “
The decision by the federal government to take the initiative on the states exacerbates these problems as to how they will vaccinate people.
The Pfizer / bayonet vaccine should be stored between minus 112F (minus 80C) and minus 94F (minus 70C), while the modern ab needs to be stored at minus 4F (minus 20C) – i.e. the locals have enough freezer. May struggle to find potential.
There is also a lack of federal coordination on vaccine accessories such as syringes, needles and alcohol swabs.
“We remember, earlier this year, the test was fantastic because we ran out of pieces of wool,” Lee pointed out.
U.S. Numerous reports in depict a haphazard or limited rollout.
Texas residents have complained that providers call for information when they don’t call, making it difficult to navigate official websites – and they don’t know where to get the vaccine, WFAA-TV, affiliated with Doubles ABC, said.
In Florida, where people 65 and older can start getting vaccinated, senior citizens were seen blinking and camping overnight.
Terry Beth Headler, 69, stood overnight in a parking lot with hundreds of others outside the Bonita Springs Library in southwest Florida.
She waited 14 hours, and told the Associated Press that the fight almost broke out as early as Tuesday, when some people cut the line.
“I’m afraid the incident was a super spreader, I was patriarchal,” Headler said.
Near Miami, seniors have flooded phone lines and the health department’s website in a futile attempt to get a vaccination appointment, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel said.
New York City, the world’s coronavirus hotspot in early spring, is also suffering from sluggish distribution.
The city has received more than 340,000 doses but only 88,000 doses have been delivered, The New York Times reported Friday.
No one denies that it is challenging to run a massive vaccination campaign amid a public health crisis plaguing health workers and services in many parts of the nation.
Claire Hannan, head of the Association of Immunization Managers, said in an emailed statement: “Hospitalized doses will not be administered overnight. Hospitals are moving at a very deliberate pace. Providers need to be trained and healthcare workers need to be educated about vaccines. “
He added: “Even HH hospitals are very thin right now. We are asking for their time, resources, space, energy and efforts to coordinate vaccine clinics. They have to approach vaccination between caring for patients.”
The pressure is intense.
“We expect to move at lightning speed, and I think they’re moving at a really good pace, although this is a completely new vaccine,” said Jelsa Justman, associate professor of pathology at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.
This is not to say that delays, even if expected, should not be noticed immediately. Both facts are true: the delay was virtually inevitable, but it would cost their lives, she noted.
“Hundreds of thousands of people are dying and the vaccine needs to be given as soon as possible,” Justman said.
Some public health experts believe that the U.K. There is a need to adopt a more innovative approach, focusing on the UK’s latest plan to ensure that as many people as possible receive the first dose as soon as possible, rather than back-to-back doses to ensure an initial dose. -Supply for the same people to operate the second required shot a few weeks after the first shot.
“In the UK, they’re doing the interval between the first dose and the second dose, which is a very creative idea,” Justman said. “I am confident the UK will not make a decision without backing up the data.”
Brown’s Zhao said that the science that demonstrates effectiveness with a single dose is not so strong, it presents a confusion. U.S. Could follow its current approach – no one would be prepared to take scientific risks and see to it that the vaccine distribution is run “right through the book” or something works to prevent a novel crisis.
“I think the UK’s approach to getting a dose is the right approach,” Zhao said. “In my mind, given the situation in the game we’re in, it’s more reasonable. We have to move on.”
On Friday, however, Fickey came up against a delay in other shots following the UK model, in order to extend the partial protection offered by a single dose to more people.
Meanwhile, some states’ decision to prioritize senior citizens over essential workers other than health, which is contrary to federal recommendations, could pose rational challenges.
However, “in terms of getting the vaccine out as soon as possible and in the arms, this may not be such a bad thing. ‘
He added: “States do not have enough time or resources to set up these systems, so there will be setbacks. But again, at the bottom, every day that vaccine goes into the arms is a breakthrough. ”
Brown’s Zhao said the US could get back on track.
Even in the midst of grief, he concluded: “I think you can make moderate changes, and I think you can fix this.”
