California government Gavin News admitted this week that the distribution of the originally expected vaccine in the Golden Gate state is slow, but health experts hope the vaccine will be introduced in the new year.
In the two weeks since deliveries began in California, about 300,000 frontline workers received first-stage vaccines – a figure lower than the estimated 2.4 million people in the first-vaccine group.
“It’s extraordinary that we’ve already administered 300,000 doses,” said Dr. A.S., director of national allergy and infectious diseases, during a Facebook live event on Wednesday. Said Anthony with Fauci. “But there’s been a bit of frustration, a little bit of frustration – we’d have over-imagined the availability and distribution of the vaccine in the short term.”
Although 14 million doses of the first round of vaccines have been distributed through the federal program overseeing the distribution of vaccines across the nation, the figure falls short of the estimated distribution of 20 million vaccines by the end of December.
Chief Operating Officer of Operation Warm Speed US Fisher U.S. Army General Gustav Parna said the slow delivery rate is also partly due to hospitals fighting for effective delivery of vaccines. Earlier this week in Florida, hundreds of seniors were waiting in line to be vaccinated under the first-come, first-served system currently in place.
“There is a learning curve,” Monsef Sloui, chief science adviser at Operation Operation Speed, told reporters on Wednesday.
He added, “There were many days that were lost due to holidays or snowfall.”
California originally expected to receive 2.4 million doses by the end of December, but according to the San Francisco Chronicle, only 1.8 million have been received instead.
“It’s not shocking or disappointing,” News added during a news briefing on Wednesday, adding that “we know that the number of doses that have been produced is less than the original proportion.”
“At this point, I think it’s wise for us to be a little more humble about where we are with this unprecedented effort to vaccinate hundreds of millions of Americans in a very short period of time.”
Click here to get the Fox News app
California recently tightened lockout measures following a spike in coronavirus cases, with more than 27,000 new cases reported Thursday, contributing to more than 2.2 million cases and 25,000 deaths in the state since the epidemic began.
