More than 17 million doses were sent, but just under 5 million doses were used, meaning more than 12 million doses were sent but not injected.
The CDC data covering how many doses were sent out and how many people received their first doses contain the Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines.
The CDC said the large gap in numbers is currently expected in the vaccination process due to ‘delays in reporting administered doses and managing available vaccine supplies by jurisdictions and federal pharmacy partners’.
The CDC also said numbers could be delayed because healthcare providers report doses to ‘federal, state, territorial and local agencies up to 72 hours after administration’, and then there could be an additional delay in the data as the institutions report their numbers to the CDC.
South Dakota has the largest per capita percentage of people receiving their first dose, at 3,231 per 100,000 residents, with a total of 28,581 people getting their first chance. West Virginia is not far behind with 3,162 per 100,000 inhabitants with a total of 56,664.
In New York, hospitals now have to use a dose within a week of receiving it or are at risk of a fine and a decrease in supplies, as Governor Andrew Cuomo urges his state to vaccinate their residents faster .
‘I do not want the vaccine in a fridge or freezer, I want it in someone’s arm. Failure to perform this function raises questions about the hospital’s operational efficiency, “Cuomo was quoted as saying by Reuters.
New York hospitals have so far used less than half of their doses.
Six states have so far vaccinated less than 1,000 people per 100,000 inhabitants. Michigan, Arizona, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia are all on the list, but last is Kansas, where so far only 692 people per 100,000 residents have received their first dose, according to CDC data.
The total number of people in Kansas who received their first dose is 20,158.
Florida is another state where the governor has threatened hospitals with fines unless they speed up the process.
‘I want to be very clear on one important point: hospitals that are not doing the job well to get the vaccine out will be transferred their grants to hospitals that are working well and getting the vaccine. “We do not want the vaccine to just linger on some hospital system,” said Governor Ron DeSantis, local television station CBS12 reported.
In an interview with The New York Times, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he believes between 70 and 90 percent of Americans need to be vaccinated to bring about herd immunity.
The United States closes 21 million cases of Covid-19.
354,000 Americans have died from the disease so far.
Worldwide, nearly 86 million Covid cases have been recorded and nearly 1.9 million deaths.