US Coronavirus: More Americans Say Willing to Get Vaccinated, But Supply Issues Persist

A Gallup poll released Wednesday found that 71% of respondents are willing to get vaccinated, up from 65% at the end of December and the highest number since July. So far, about 10% – nearly 33.8 million Americans – have received at least one dose of the two-component vaccines, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 10.5 million people have been fully vaccinated.

This applies to any large stadium or arena, whether it’s a hockey, baseball, soccer, football or music venue, Cuomo said.

There is a 10% capacity limit for venues with 10,000 or more seats, and all attendees will need to provide a negative PCR test. They will have to wear masks, observe social distancing, and sit in assigned seats.

White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients, along with Cuomo, also announced that two mass vaccination centers will open in Queens and Brooklyn.

“We meet with communities where they are in places they know and trust,” Zients said. “We look forward to building on these partnerships with states and localities to scale innovative models that meet the needs of the communities we serve.”

In Texas, three new major community vaccination centers will open in Dallas, Arlington and Houston, Zients announced.

And Arizona is hosting a third state-sponsored vaccination site scheduled to serve 6,000 people a day, Governor Doug Ducey announced Wednesday.

“Demand for vaccine doses is high and Arizonans have made it clear that they want it. We are working hard to secure more doses from the federal government and partner with public and private organizations to get the vaccine out and protect Arizonans,” he said Ducey. .

On Tuesday, the Biden administration said it was increasing the weekly supply of vaccines going to states, tribes and territories to 11 million doses, and said it continues to work with manufacturers to increase supplies.

Walmart among stores that will offer vaccines

More than 1,000 Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacies in 22 states will begin administering the vaccine as part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, according to Walmart. It is not clear how many doses will be available.

The company said Tuesday that it had worked with the CDC to identify pharmacy locations based on factors such as population density and infection rates, and also examined locations in medically underserved areas.

Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacies are already vaccinating in 11 states under state allocations, according to the company’s press release.

The Biden administration announced last week that the federal government will begin direct shipments of coronavirus vaccines to retail pharmacies starting Thursday, totaling 1 million doses for about 6,500 stores before finally expanding.

CVS and Walgreens have said they will get about 420,000 of the 1 million doses available.

82% of educators are not vaccinated, according to a survey

Amid nationwide talks about the steps needed to reopen safe schools, the nation’s largest teachers union released a survey showing that roughly 82% of the educators it represents have yet to receive a vaccine.

After surveying more than 3,300 of its members, the association found that around 70% said they would feel more confident returning to learning in person if they were vaccinated. About 64% said they currently work in school buildings all or part of the time.

Covid-19 risk perception is lowest in months

The Gallup poll on Wednesday showed that Republicans and Democrats are willing to get vaccinated: 51% and 91%, respectively.

Of those who are unwilling, 25% said they were concerned that vaccinations would be rushed; 22% want to see if they are safe for others; 16% do not trust vaccines in general; and 9% want to see how effective they are. The survey also found that two-thirds of Americans were not satisfied with the progress of the vaccination effort.

The variants complicate the picture and worry the experts.

CDC data updated Tuesday shows that more than 940 cases of Covid-19 variants first detected in the UK, South Africa and Brazil have been reported in the US, the majority being the known highly contagious variant. as B.1.1.7, originally detected in the UK. UK.

That number is quite concerning. But the CDC says it likely doesn’t represent the total number of variant cases, only those found when testing positive samples for Covid-19.

Americans’ perception of risk is the lowest in months, according to a new survey from Axios-Ipsos. Approximately 66% of the people surveyed reported that they thought there was a moderate or large risk of returning to life before the pandemic. The last time that number was this low was in October.