WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Wednesday expanded its network to vaccinate doctors and nurses with COVID-19 on an epidemic front, with a major hurricane threatening to slow progress along the east coast. .
As the growing number of medical professionals in hospitals increased their influence, legislators on Capitol Hill said they were approaching a long-winded bilateral deal on રાહ 900 billion in economic relief for epidemic-stricken U.S. workers and industries.
The aid package, coupled with a massive spending bill that should be passed by Friday to avoid a federal shutdown, was not expected to include covid-relief funds for state and local governments, as Democrats wanted, or the protection of epidemiological companies by Republicans. Sought lawsuits.
Pfizer Inc. and German partner Bioentech S.E. The first-class rollout of 2.9 million doses of the newly authorized vaccine by was in its third full day, with shipments leading to 66 more distribution centers across the country.
Moderna Inc.’s second vaccine was launched in the U.S. this week. Emergency-use of Food and Drug Administration may be approved.
Express delivery companies FedEx and United Parcel Service, while sharing a leading role in vaccine shipments, said they were monitoring the potential effects of heavy snow and ice that disrupted transport along the East Coast.
U.S. Army General Gustave Parna, overseeing the government’s Operation Warp Speed campaign, said the FedEx and UPSA had “developed contingency plans to keep delayed vaccine shipments safe until the next day.”
“We said we were on track for all the deliveries we made,” Parna told reporters at a briefing. He cited a common error associated with four tray vaccines – two sent to California and two to Alabama – which reached lower temperatures than indicated. Parna said the tray in question was sent back to Pfizer and later replaced.
Some vacc7070 other vaccine distribution centers received initial bag shipments on Monday and Tuesday and there was also a big wave of deliveries to 88,886 additional locations on Friday, Parna said.
From each distribution point, vaccine doses were distributed to area hospitals and given to healthcare workers, designated as the first line for vaccination. Some even went to the residents and staff of long-term care facilities. The latter round of vaccinations will go to other essential workers, senior citizens and people with severe health conditions.
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who has said he will bring the vaccine to the public in confidence in his safety, said he expects to receive his first injection next week, according to his transition team.
Biden, 78, is in the high-risk category for coronavirus because of his age.
‘Not on you’
It will take several months before the vaccine becomes widely available to the public on demand, and opinion polls have found many Americans reluctant to be inoculated.
Political leaders and medical officials, meanwhile, have launched media blitz, urging Americans to avoid social distance and the growing boredom of mask-wearing as the epidemic continues.
A member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Dr. “It’s not over yet,” Anthony Fawcett told CBS News. “Public health measures are a bridge to vaccination, which will get us out of this.”
The data show that most infections and hospitalized healthcare systems in the country are leading to breaking points, with many intensive care units close to or close to capacity.
At least 3,459 additional coronavirus deaths were reported in the United States on Wednesday alone, with records reporting that the daily number exceeded 1,000,000 for the fourth time in a week. The seven-day average topped the lives of 2,500 people who lost their lives every 24 hours for the first time this week.
To date, Covid-19 deaths account for more than 304,000 deaths nationally, while an additional 16.7 million known infections account for about 5% of the U.S. population.
The record set for the 19th consecutive day of hospital admissions – with about 113,000 patients under treatment on Wednesday – health experts warn that deaths will rise next week despite the vaccine campaign expanding.
Another 2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 5.9 million doses of the modern vaccine will be allocated, U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar told a news conference. Both require two doses, except for three or four weeks, for each inoculated person.
Azar said that in total, the United States has the option to purchase millions of doses of those vaccines, plus hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines have not yet been approved, including some single-dose drugs.
Azar said the United States could get an additional supply of vaccines in the future, if all the vaccines it has secured are authorized for use, which could ultimately benefit other countries.
Monsef Slow, chief adviser to Trump Operation Speed, told the same conference that the Trump administration was also in discussions to secure additional antibody therapy doses from Regernon Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co.
Reported by Susan Heavy, Manas Mishra, Anurag Mann, Lisa Schumacher and, Richard Cowan; Written by Daniel Trota and Steve Gorman; Edited by Steve Orlofsky, A Rora Ellis and Grant M. McCull
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