Devastating winter storms sweeping the U.S. have injected confusion and frustration into the country’s Covid-19 vaccination process, which has driven off births and forced thousands of shots across the country.
Across much of the U.S., including deep southern states such as Georgia and Alabama, the snow, slippery weather led to the closure of vaccination sites or stopped the necessary shipments, with delays expected to last for days.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday that states are facing serious delays in receiving doses, with dangerous road conditions and power outages hampering delivery. 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.
“If there is a snow-day of vaccination centers, it will only help more than it already is,” said dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Safety, said. “The virus does not last on snowy days.”
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 up my whole life, ”Dohogne said.
White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said the government in places where vaccination rooms are closed, such as in Texas, encourages the 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.
It is worrying that the delays are increasing as efforts to immunize more people increase. The US vaccinates an average of 1.7 million Americans a day against Covid-19, up from less than a month ago. New White House figures show a steady increase in the rate of vaccinations over Joe Biden’s first month in office.
Biden is on track to exceed its 100 million shot target in his first 100 days in office, but the pace needs to increase even further to meet his plans to vaccinate almost all adults by the end of the summer.
In the face of frustrating delays, some people have shown remarkable perseverance. Fran Goldman, 90, of Seattle, told the Seattle Times that she walked 6 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 some 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.