That changed this week when a gradual increase in business – reminiscent of the last three increases – took hold, and administration officials fearful of a relapse were concerned.
Walensky’s dramatic warning during the coronavirus briefing in the White House on Monday and her plea to hold on for a while longer was a turning point in the story of the pandemic, which shocked the country to the reality that even the current pace of nearly three million shots per day may not be enough to prevent a final upsurge among the majority of Americans who have not yet been vaccinated.
Her message initially caught some members of the administration off guard and according to people familiar with a bit of annoyance among some of Biden’s advisers. Others praised her in public. In both cases, her words reflect a sharp feeling within the White House that the boom they were preparing for was finally imminent – a ‘sinking feeling’, one senior administration official said, adding that things could get worse before getting better. .
Within the White House, there is now a balancing act underway between the optimism that an accelerated vaccination program will eventually end the crisis while public warnings about a possible fourth boom fueled by new variants are being raised.
“Too many Americans are acting as if this battle is over. It is not,” Biden said in the White House on Friday. He covers a week during which he has been constantly updating his team’s scores and has become increasingly concerned about it. , according to assistants. “Cases are increasing again. The virus is spreading faster in many places. Deaths are increasing in some states. That’s why I ask: I must plead with you: Do not give back the progress we have all worked so hard for.”
“We need to keep reminding people – as I try and like others – that just because you have 100 million people who had their first vaccination, it also means you have 150 million adults. Andy Slavitt, a senior coronavirus adviser White House response team said in an interview: “You want people to feel less scared – that’s good – but you also want people to be careful and conscientious about the fact that there are many people who are still have not been vaccinated. ”
Slavitt said the president and the White House expect things to finally pick up again before the U.S. reaches vaccine-induced herd immunity. But he said the U.S. response to another outbreak would be different than earlier in the pandemic, largely due to the vaccine.
Unknown wait
A number of unknowns are still at the forefront of the White House’s pandemic response and the prospect of a new upsurge, ranging from the number of people who do not want to receive a vaccine, to the effectiveness of the vaccines against future variant.
Officials said the biggest uncertainty now is whether an increase in cases will lead to the proportional increase in hospitalizations and deaths that characterized the previous increase. For weeks, officials have expressed hope that by vaccinating the overwhelming majority of people over the age of 65, an increase in cases could prevent an increase in hospitalizations and deaths. But the proliferation of the B.1.1.7 variant has questioned this.
In Michigan, where the variety is widespread and the cases are increasing, hospitalizations among younger adults have fueled predictions about the effects of another upsurge.
“Covid will look different in 2020 than in 2020,” an administration official said. “The virus was not static, and the future of what it looks like is going to change.”
White House officials say they have prepared for the unknowns and kept track of the leading indicators, such as test positivity and emergency visits, as well as vaccination rates by region and demographics. They mapped dozens of scenarios – some of which predict an increase in cases, others a full-scale boom – and over the past week, White House officials have been in more frequent contact with officials in emerging hotspots such as Michigan and New York.
In addition to raising its public and private warnings to the public and state and local leaders, the administration’s solution to the increase was in cases to continue to increase vaccination efforts, including by sending more doses directly to pharmacies and to ensure that more Americans are eligible. to receive shots.
“We are at a critical crossroads,” said a senior administration official. “Every day that passes, we vaccinate another 2 to 3 million people. Every day you put a pillow in the rebound.”
But even as the president and his top officials magnified their warnings, the limits of his authority were clear.
The people familiar with the call reiterated during a weekly conference call with U.S. governors after Walensky’s warning that they had reiterated their concerns about the reopening. But they received little indication from state leaders that they would reconsider their plans. Few people even asked questions for the CDC.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, asked the CDC director at the call whether the reopening plans for his state had been interrupted, as its population density differs from others, one of the people familiar with the call said. A few hours later, he announced that he was ending his state mask mandate.
The upcoming reopening
It is not just governors who continue to return to normal, despite warnings from the government. Data from the Transportation Security Administration released Thursday showed that they had selected more than 1 million people at U.S. airports for 14 consecutive days, and continued to pursue a two-week training vacation in travelers, even though U.S. health officials people are still trying to discourage. Delta has become the last major U.S. airline to end its practice of ending the middle seats this week as demand grows stronger again.
Other venues also said they would start at full capacity, including the Texas Rangers, who planned to open their Globe Life Field at the full limit of 40,300 people for the opening day this week. This reproached Biden himself in an interview with ESPN.
“I think it’s a mistake,” Biden said. ‘They need to listen to Dr. Fauci, the scientists and the experts. But I do not think it is responsible. ‘
White House officials have been watching Europe nervously, where infections have increased and hospitals have increased to their capacity amid the rapid spread of a highly communicable variant first identified in Britain. The biggest difference officials are hoping to avoid in a similar situation in the US is the deployment of vaccines; in most European countries, including France, the shots are slowly taking up arms.
The U.S. rollout went relatively well, reaching an average of seven days of nearly 3 million doses per day as of Friday. The government announced dozens of federal vaccination sites and Biden said last month that every adult American is eligible to receive a shot no later than May 1st.
However, now that about 30% of adults have received at least one dose, the administration expects a tougher blow to convince people in certain groups to get a vaccine. They have launched a large-scale educational effort to convince people that he may be hesitant that the products are safe and the key to making the country normal again.
Vaccination push
In addition to TV commercials, the administration’s vaccine trust campaign focuses on efforts to equip trusted voices with the information and resources to promote the safety and efficacy of the coronavirus vaccine. The government applied these efforts after research showed that Americans are more likely to rely on doctors and community leaders when deciding whether to vaccinate.
Nearly 300 organizations – including medical groups, sports leagues, rural organizations, trade unions and religious groups – have signed up to be part of the effort, which the government calls the Covid-19 Community Corps.
“We are in a phase where, with the increasing number of vaccinations, we are at a stage in a phase where we can get this matter under control,” Vice President Kamala Harris said during a Thursday morning event that launched the effort. .
There are still problems with the provision of vaccines. A confusion at a factory producing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which the White House first learned about last week, has led to internal consternation over Biden’s progress toward getting most Americans shot by summer. to deliver.
Administration officials stressed that the quality issue with Emergent Biosolutions, a Baltimore plant that makes Covid-19 vaccine material for Johnson and Johnson and others, does not affect Biden’s ultimate goal of making vaccines available to all Americans. And the White House said the company told them to expect another 24 million doses of their vaccine next month – although officials have warned it rests on Johnson and Johnson, with questions about their production timelines.
Officials were frustrated by the development, which was marked by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to the administration. The FDA on Thursday demanded more information from Johnson & Johnson about what went wrong with the vaccine production, a source told CNN.