Now that nearly half of the U.S. population can be eligible for coronavirus vaccines, America is confronted with the problem experts who thought we would have all along: the demand for the vaccine is more than the supply.
Why it matters: The Trump administration’s call for states to grant access to vaccines for all Americans aged 65 and older and adults with pre-existing conditions may have helped massage bottlenecks in the distribution process, but it has also led to a different kind of chaos led.
The whole picture: The U.S. has only administered about 14.7 million shots per Bloomberg, which is less than the 20 million doses expected by the end of December. Almost half of the distributed doses were given.
- The vaccine providers have too strictly complied with the prioritization guidelines, experts said, urging the government to provide its new guidance.
- But the process has also struggled with the complicated logistics of a massive vaccine distribution program, and getting more people eligible for the shots does not solve problems such as a shortage of vaccines.
What is happening: We have known all along that vaccines can only be manufactured, distributed and administered at a limited rate. We now see that these restrictions play out in real time.
- Americans who are eligible for the vaccine cannot get appointments, as all available slots fill up almost immediately after they open.
- In some places, where vaccines are administered on a first-come, first-served basis, people have been waiting in line for hours – or even overnight – to try and get a chance.
- New York’s website said last week that all vaccine appointments for the next 14 weeks be discussed. Although 7 million New Yorkers are eligible, the state receives only 300,000 doses of vaccine per week from the federal government.
The shift in federal leadership was announced with the Trump administration to stop withholding the second dose of vaccine and instead distribute all available shots to states.
- But the government has already started doing so, reports the Washington Post, which means there are no extra reserve vaccine doses to send out.
The conclusion: Vaccine supply would always be the biggest problem in the next few months. What we underestimated were the logistical challenges that have played out over the past few weeks.