As the demand for vaccine still exceeds the supply too much, the country’s leading expert in infectious diseases has made a wonderful prediction. “By the time we’re in April, it’s what I call it because of a lack of better wording in the open season. Virtually anyone and everyone in any category can start vaccinating,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
But vaccination sites still need doses, and that’s a big problem for Maryland. “We need more damn vaccines,” Governor Larry Hogan said. “We have no control over this supply problem.”
It’s the same in Los Angeles. “It’s a little Hunger Games out there,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said. “This week we only received 16,000 new doses. That’s 90,000 lower than the previous week. That’s unacceptable.”
The shortage forces several Los Angeles vaccine sites to close for two days, starting Friday. A website in the iconic Crenshaw Christian Center has already run out. The surrounding area contains a number of communities hardest hit in the city. The battle at Crenshaw Christian Center is personal – founder Frederick KC Price is now fighting COVID-19.
In Alabama, which is the last in the U.S. for per capita vaccinations, all sites are now booked until April.
Irene Cozad, 70, has been battling colon cancer and says she is desperate for the vaccine. “I’m looking at the computer and do not know how much I can still do,” she said. “Disappointing, it’s almost like where I thought there was hope and light at the end of the tunnel. Now I’m getting depressed about it.”
There is some relief on the way as the federal government has started sending out doses of vaccines directly to pharmacies on Thursday.
President Biden also stressed on Thursday that it is necessary to promote the vaccine supply, while visiting through the National Institutes of Health laboratories where the Modern vaccine was developed.
“It really seems to be a huge logistical problem for us,” he said. “My predecessor – I will be very blunt about it – did not do his job to prepare for the great challenge of vaccinating hundreds of millions.”
Mr. Biden has announced that the US has just signed contracts for another 100 million doses of each of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. The vaccines would arrive by the end of July, he said.
How far some are willing to skip the queue is evident from a Craigslist ad to get 75-year-olds driving to get their vaccine. In Massachusetts, the governor announced that the accompanying seniors would also get the chance after their vaccination appointments.