The icy explosion in much of the U.S. on Wednesday injected more confusion and frustration into the country’s COVID-19 vaccination field, just as it was gathering speed, and the delivery of vaccines and the cancellation of numerous shots across the country forced.
Across much of the country, including deep-south states such as Georgia and Alabama, the snow, slippery weather has either led to the vaccination sites being closed directly, or the necessary shipments being held, with delays expected to take days. would last.
In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the doses expected this week are being delayed by again elsewhere in the country, forcing the city to institute the vaccinations of 30 to 35,000.
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 they already are,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Safety, said. “The virus does not last on snowy days.”
Adalja said people responsible for vaccination efforts should find ways to be more resilient to the weather, “just as mail messages can deliver the email through snow or sleet.” He suggested that clinics use better contingency plans. The goal, he said, should be “a continuous assembly line of vaccines that go into people’s arms.”
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’s taking my whole life,” Dohogne said.
After her appointment for a vaccine was canceled on Saturday, Dohogne said a friend of a neighbor’s helped her navigate the vaccine registration process. But without hearing when she could get her second blow, Dohogne said she was ‘just frustrated and stressed’.
In Washington, White House coordinator Jeff Zients COVID-19 said the government in places where vaccination facilities 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.
Some shipments of the vaccine made by Pfizer have been delayed in the South due to the bad weather, but the company was unaware of any spoilage of the vaccine, spokesman Eamonn Nolan said. Pfizer’s vaccines, which must be frozen at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 34.4 degrees Celsius), are shipped with dry ice in temperature-controlled containers that remain unopened for up to 10 days.
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.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the largest increase is in people receiving their second dose. The rate of vaccination at the first dose has been largely stable over the past few weeks, hovering an average of 900,000 shots per day.
Biden is on track to surpass his goal of 100 million shots in his first hundred days in office – although the pace must rise even further to meet his plans to vaccinate almost all adults by the end of the summer.
The White House also said the government would build up genetic analyzes of coronavirus samples from across the country to obtain information on where more contagious and potentially deadly mutations could spread.
In the face of frustrating delays, some people have shown remarkable perseverance. Fran 90, 90, from Seattle, told The Seattle Times she walked 9.7 miles back and forth in the snow to get her vaccination.
Goldman said that after much effort, she finally secured a slot for Sunday morning, but Friday and Saturday saw a strong storm that filled streets with snowdrifts.
Goldman put on fleece pants and threw a few warm layers over a short-sleeved shirt so the nurse could easily reach out to her arm.
“It was not easy to go. It was challenging, “she said. She reached her appointment, just five minutes late.
In other developments, Pennsylvania is facing a temporary shortage of second shots of the Moderna vaccine, after suppliers accidentally used it as first doses. More than 100,000 people will have to reschedule their appointments.
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Noveck reported and from New York and Naishadham reported from Phoenix. Medical author Linda A. Johnson contributed from Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, Jeff Martin of Atlanta and Michelle R. Smith of Providence, RI