Signing up for a Covid-19 vaccine has become a ritual filled with expectation – but also frustration – for many Americans. Several states are expanding the groups eligible for vaccination without being able to meet everyone on time.
Thus, they warn governors and health authorities, even those who are already able to receive the vaccine may have to wait a little longer. The pace of vaccination is accelerating in the United States – on average, about 2.8 million requests are made daily – and the country has already purchased enough doses to immunize up to 400 million people, or 70 million people. more than its population.
But not all vaccines are available for immediate use. Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson, the makers of the three emergency immunizers licensed in the United States, vary in delivery times and quantities, and doses have been phased out to the states by the federal government.
President Joe Biden went public on Monday (29) saying that by April 19, 90% of American adults will be eligible for the vaccine – the Democrat doubled his target and pledged to deliver 200 million doses during his First 100 days of government.
Due to the bottlenecks, this does not mean that nearly all Americans will be vaccinated in April – the forecast is that 90% of them will have received at least one dose of the vaccine by the end of July.
In the United States, each state sets its own vaccination rules, and at least 39 out of 50 have already announced that all of their adult residents (aged 16 and over) will be eligible for vaccination later this month – then them. guts begin.
In Washington, for example, residents must pre-register with the city hall website before receiving the dose. Each week, there are electronic sweepstakes among registered profiles who are in the eligible groups, and only those who are selected can make an appointment to be vaccinated.
Last week, New York City Mayor Democrat Bill de Blasio summed up the issue after Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his party colleague, announced he would expand eligibility to every 50 or older.
“The problem is not the eligibility criteria, the problem is the offer,” De Blasio said in an interview with a television station. “As you add more groups, it means people, in some cases, will wait longer because we still don’t have the doses we need.”
Even with childbirth complications, Cuomo announced that people aged 30 and older could be vaccinated starting Tuesday (30) in New York City and that all adults living in the state will be eligible for the vaccination on the 6th. April.
Florida and California, two of the largest and most important states in the country, also announced Covid vaccination targets for all residents aged 16 and over as of April 5 and 15, respectively. But there are problems even where vaccination is only open to smaller groups.
After the governor of Maryland, Republican Larry Hogan, opened the vaccination of people aged 60 and over, for example, the head of government of one of the state’s largest counties, Democrat Marc Elrich, warned that did not mean immediate vaccination.
“Being informed that you are eligible does not mean that when you pre-register you are ready to make an appointment to be vaccinated,” Elrich said in a virtual press conference. “The number of doses is less than the number of eligible people. . “
Local officials began to publicly complain about the lack of prospects of receiving further doses and even the lack of work for frontline application professionals.
“What is holding us back is just the number of doses,” said Gary Edwards, executive director of one of Utah’s health departments, in an interview with Axios. “We have professionals ready to do more and they are not busy enough.”
The scenario also opened up contradictions and inequalities in the country. White and wealthier people have been vaccinated in poorer states or regions, even though they are not residents or groups eligible for vaccination. Others are looking for xepa vaccines that have not been used and will need to be thrown away at the end of the day.
Indeed, with less access to information and to the Internet, the poorest communities are often unable to meet the number of daily consultations for the application of vaccines.
Leaders in number of cases and deaths by Covid-19 in the world – there are more than 552 thousand victims and 30 million cases -, the USA had vaccinated 101.8 million inhabitants with at least one dose up to Friday (2), including 58 million who received the two doses of Pfizer and Moderna or the only application of Johnson & Johnson. The Joe Biden government has distributed approximately 204.7 million doses to states, municipalities and federal agencies, and at least 148 million doses have been administered, or 80%.
The White House says it has worked with manufacturers to speed up production and increase the supply of vaccines to the United States. According to presidential spokeswoman Jen Psaki, the government is adding 23,000 pharmacies to the federal immunization program – in addition to the 17,000 that already administer vaccines in the country. Psaki said governors have been informed that around 33 million doses of the vaccine will be allocated to different states in the coming days.
