American Coronavirus: About 1 in 10 Americans got at least their first Covid-19 shot. But there are still challenges for supply

American Coronavirus: About 1 in 10 Americans got at least their first Covid-19 shot. But there are still challenges for supply

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“We’re in a situation, and we’ll be undersupplied for a while,” said Andy Slavitt, White House senior adviser to Covid-19.

Meanwhile, a Gallup poll released on Wednesday revealed that 71 percent of Americans are willing to get Covid-19 vaccines, up from 65 percent at the end of December and the highest number since July.

Andy Beshear, governor of Kentucky, said the state would receive more doses from the federal government, saying “it’s not enough, but it’s great.”

“I wish we had 200,000 doses a week now. We could all award it,” Beshear said.

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But there’s good news: Biden’s government said on Tuesday it’s increasing its weekly vaccine supply to states, tribes and territories to 11 million doses, and it’s continuing to work with manufacturers to increase supply.

More leaders say they are concerned about the difference in who gets a vaccine. Next week, the administration will send a portion of the inventory directly to community health centers to reach underserved areas, said White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients.

Zients spoke at a virtual news conference with New York government Andrew Cuomo at a news conference on Wednesday to announce the opening of two Mass Centers in Queens and Brooklyn. The White House team is moving quickly to get more innings on the ground and is working with New York State to identify additional locations.

“We meet 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 vaccination centers will open in Dallas, Arlington and Houston, Zients announced.

And Arizona is getting a third state-sponsored vaccination site that should serve 6,000 people a day, Doug Ducey announced Wednesday.

“The 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 working with private and public organizations to get the vaccine and protect Arizonans,” said Ducey. .

Walmart among vaccine stores

A few thousand retail pharmacies will also begin administering vaccines as part of a federal program, and Walmart, CVS and Walgreens say the vaccination will begin Friday in participating stores.
Biden administration announces direct vaccination to pharmacies

According to Walmart, more than 1,000 pharmacies in Walmart and Sam’s Club in 22 countries will begin administering the vaccine as part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program. It is unclear how many doses are available.

The company said Tuesday it is working with the CDC to identify pharmacy locations based on factors such as population density and infection rates, and is also looking at locations in medically underserved areas.

Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacies are already vaccinating in 11 states in the state, according to the news report.

The Biden government announced last week that the federal government will begin direct shipments of coronavirus vaccines to retail pharmacies from Thursday, with a total of 1 million doses going to about 6,500 stores before finally expanding.

CVS and Walgreens said they will receive approximately 420,000 doses out of the 1 million doses.

82% of educators were not vaccinated, the survey finds

Amid nationwide talks on the steps needed for safe school reopening, the country’s largest teachers’ union has released a survey showing that about 82% of the teachers it represents have not yet received a vaccine.

Covid-19 vaccines should be sent directly to community health centers to target 'hard-to-reach populations'
The survey, conducted by the National Education Association, found that “the number of educators working in physical buildings again is much greater than the number of educators being vaccinated.”
Teachers protested and expressed concern about returning to the classroom after losing colleagues due to the virus. But according to a CNN analysis, teachers are not currently prioritized for vaccination in 24 countries.

After the association voted more than 3,300 members, the association found that about 70% said they would feel safer to return to personal learning if they were vaccinated. About 64% said they currently work full-time or part-time in school buildings.

Covid-19 risk perception is lowest in months

The Gallup poll on Wednesday showed Republicans and Democrats are ready to be vaccinated – 51% and 91% respectively.

Don't get mad at these Covid-19 numbers

Of people who did not want to, 25% said they were worried about the vaccines being rushed; 22% want to see if they are safe for others; 16% do not trust vaccination in general; and 9% want to see how effective they are. The poll also found that two-thirds of Americans were dissatisfied with the course of the vaccination effort.

And the US is not out of the woods yet. According to Johns Hopkins University, the country recorded more than 27.2 million cases on Wednesday, far more than any other country, and more than 469,000 deaths.

Variants complicate the prospects and concern experts.

CDC data updated on Tuesday shows that more than 940 cases of Covid-19 variants first spotted in the UK, South Africa and Brazil have been reported in the US. Most are the highly contagious variant known as B.1.1.7, which originated in the United Kingdom.

CDC: double masking can block 92% of infectious particles

The number is enough. But the CDC says it probably does not represent the total number of variant cases, only those found by analyzing Covid-19 positive samples.

According to a new Axios-Ipsos poll, the perception of Americans is the lowest in months, according to months. About 66% of the people surveyed reported that they think there is a moderate or high risk of returning to pre-pandemic life. The last time it was so low was in October.

In fact, now that variants are in circulation, even everyday activities like groceries can be more dangerous, Wen warned earlier. And variants may be why vaccines are becoming an annual necessity.
The CDC said on Wednesday that double masking could significantly improve protection. Researchers have found that the application of a cloth mask to a medical procedure mask, such as a disposable blue surgical mask, can allow 92.5% of the possible infectious particles to escape by creating a tighter fit and eliminating leakage. .

CNN’s Samira Said, Deidre McPhillips, Naomi Thomas, Meridith Edwards, Jen Christensen, John Bonifield, Rebekah Riess and Jacqueline Howard contributed to this report.

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