Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that Americans could wear masks by 2022, as he said the severe winter storms the country is experiencing this week are slowing the distribution of six million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
The White House chief medical adviser told NBC on Sunday: “The number was 6 million doses delayed.”
But the country’s leading expert on infectious diseases said on Sunday that it was only a ‘temporary setback’ and added: ‘We can catch up pretty well. We got two million out, and we plan to catch up by the middle of the week. ‘
Bad weather in the south and northeast earlier this week has hampered the delivery of vaccines and forced the cancellation of numerous shots in the country. The CDC acknowledges ‘widespread delays in the transport and delivery of Covid-19 vaccines’.
Across much of the country, including Texas, Georgia and Alabama, the snow, slippery weather has led to the closure of vaccination sites or the necessary shipments, with delays expected to last for days.
President Joe Biden is trying to speed up the campaign to vaccinate most American adults as local governments strive for more doses to prevent the highly contagious disease that has claimed nearly 500,000 lives in the United States.
Asked if Americans would expect to wear masks again next year, Fauci told CNN, “I think it’s possible that this is the case,” adding that it depends on the level of the virus in communities and possible virus variant.
“Clearly, I think we’ll have a significant degree of normality beyond the terrible burden we’re all been going through over the past year,” Fauci said.
He told Fox News the US would have 600 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine by July. “By July we will have enough, we will have the 600 million doses we have contracted for,” he added.
The US administered 57 million doses of COVID shot; 41 million people had their first vaccine, 16 million were fully vaccinated.
The sudden cessation of the vaccination comes as daily figures for Saturday show that the number of people in hospital with the coronavirus is still declining by 58,000 recorded. This is the lowest number in more than three and a half months.
There have been 2074 daily deaths recorded in the last 24 hours. The levels are now similar to those seen before the virus outbreak last spring and summer.
While daily infection rates drop dramatically, thousands of Americans still die from the virus every day, and less than 15% of the U.S. population is vaccinated against it.
Dr Anthony Fauci said the severe winter storms nationwide this week delayed the distribution of six million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
The US administered 57 million doses of COVID shot; 41 million people had their first vaccine, 16 million were fully vaccinated
The icy explosion in much of the U.S. this week brought more confusion and frustration to the COVID-19 vaccination process.
In Texas, health officials said more than 100,000 first doses and 300,000 second doses that had to be delivered this week were still waiting to be sent to the state.
The missed doses are expected to arrive during the first half of next week.
In Houston, some vaccination sites reopened at the end of this week. A new mass FEMA vaccination site at NRG Park in the city promises to vaccinate 42,000 people a week.
The snow, slippery weather across a large part of the country, including Texas, Georgia and Alabama, led to the closure of vaccination sites or the necessary shipments, with delays expected to last for days.
People with appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine are waiting outside the Westchester County Center in White Plains, NY on Wednesday. The city of New York on Saturday approached a dramatic slowdown in vaccination with just 1,000 doses in front of the door after blizzards caused the transport of vaccine to be delayed.
The city of New York on Saturday approached a dramatic slowdown in vaccination with just 1,000 doses in front of the door after blizzards caused the transport of vaccine to be delayed.
‘Delayed shipments have halted our entire vaccination effort. This morning, New York City has less than 1,000 first doses available, ‘ Avery Cohen, a spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio, wrote on Twitter.
This led to local officials pleading at vaccination sites to extend their working hours and pack additional appointments.
As for the vaccination effort, New York Mayor Bill De Blasio explained Friday that planning had to delay up to 35,000 appointments for people’s first dose due to the shortage.
Those whose appointments were not canceled over the weekend could still receive their shots.
The state of New York is also planning appointments for new mass vaccination sites that opened in Brooklyn and Queens on Wednesday in partnership with FEMA, according to the New York Times.
Government officials said they had received 40 percent of their vaccine award for the week, and that they expected the rest to be distributed on Sunday.
The main reason for the slowdown was after the bad weather sent two major cargo points for vaccination: the FedEx Center in Memphis and a similar site run by UPS in Louisville, Kentucky, through which the groups move.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency noted that 2,000 other vaccination sites were in areas where power outages had been suffered.
One public health expert said the delays were unacceptable.
“The fact that the vaccination centers are taking snow days will only support more things than it already was,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Safety, said. “The virus does not last on snow days.”
Adalja said people responsible for vaccination efforts need to find ways to be more resilient to weather, “just as mail messages can deliver the email through snow or sleet.” He suggested that clinics use better contingency plans. According to him, the goal should be “a continuous assembly line of vaccines that go into people’s arms.”
The sudden cessation of the vaccination comes as daily figures for Saturday show that the number of people in hospital with the coronavirus is still declining by 58,000 recorded. This is the lowest number in more than three and a half months
There have been 2074 daily deaths recorded in the last 24 hours. The levels are now similar to those seen before the virus outbreak last spring and summer
Jo Dohogne of Bartlett, Tennessee, said she was planning two appointments this week to receive her second dose of Moderna vaccine, but both were canceled due to bad weather.
Dohogne, 75, who has multiple sclerosis, said she was let down when the six-week mark for her second dose approached after her first vaccination on January 14.
“I’m just stressed … it’s just like it takes my whole life,” Dohogne said.
In Washington, White House coordinator Jeff Zients COVID-19 said the government in places where vaccination sites are closed, such as Texas, is encouraging sites to increase their hours once they are open.
“We want to make sure our partners do everything in their power to make up for the lost land,” he said.
In southern Nevada, officials reported that the winter storms delayed a load of Moderna vaccines administered as second doses this week.
The US vaccinates an average of 1.7 million Americans a day against COVID-19, compared to less than 1 million a month ago. New White House figures show a gradual increase in the rate of vaccinations during President Joe Biden’s first month in office.
After the first Covid-19 death was announced in the U.S. in February 2020, it took about three months to pass the 100,000 mark, during a first wave that hit New York particularly hard.
But as the outbreak in the United States grew, the death toll rose, with the toll jumping to just over 400,000 in just over a month amid a rise fueled in part by holiday gatherings.
“It’s awful. This is historical. We’ve not seen anything about it for over a hundred years, since the 1918 pandemic, Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to US President Joe Biden, told NBC’s ‘Meet The Press’.
“It’s something amazing when you look at the numbers, almost unbelievable, but it’s true,” he added, while the toll on the Johns Hopkins University website stood at 497,600.
