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The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rochelle Walensky, said that the latest official data from February 3 showed that new infections fell to approximately 121,000, while hospitalizations fell almost 42%. and the rate of deaths appears to be slowing down.
“While the data is moving in the right direction, context is important because cases, hospital admissions and deaths remain high and well above the levels we saw in the summer and early fall (boreal),” he said. Walensky during a briefing by the White House response team for COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the Department of Defense announced that it had approved the deployment of 1,110 active duty personnel to collaborate in five federal vaccination centers.
That number could eventually rise to 10,000.
150 million vaccines to be administered in Biden’s first 100 days
The government of President Joe Biden has set out to administer 150 million doses of the new coronavirus vaccine in his first 100 days in office, a challenge made even more urgent by the emergence of new variants that are more transmissible and reduce effectiveness. of some inoculations.
To that end, Tim Manning, the national supply chain manager for the COVID-19 response, said the government was invoking emergency legislation called the Defense Production Act to give Pfizer priority access to raw ingredients for your vaccine.
The legislation is also being used to help carry out 60 million more tests at the healthcare site or at home by the summer and to increase the nation’s manufacturing of surgical gloves.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration is examining data on its new vaccine sent by Johnson & Johnson, which shows 66% effectiveness, a decision by an independent advisory panel is expected on February 26.
The panel is likely to vote in favor of the emergency use authorization, given the positive data announced after Johnson & Johnson trials in various parts of the world.
The single-dose vaccine is generally 66% effective, and is very efficient against severe cases of COVID-19.
If all goes as expected, it would be the third vaccine approved in the United States, alongside Pfizer / BioNtech and Moderna, with AstraZeneca and Novavax on the horizon.
