American Coronavirus: 70% to 85% of Americans need to be fully vaccinated for a return to normalcy, says Fauci. So far it’s less than 2%

by



[ad_1]

So far, less than 2% of Americans have received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the United States, more than 32.7 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered, with an estimated 26.4 million people having received at least one dose. About six million people received both doses, according to CDC data.

Fauci said he hopes the country can reach this high level of vaccinations by the end of summer to early fall.

“Having said that,” he added, “there is an absolute ‘but’ in that. And the ‘but’ is that we have to address the variants.”

Experts have sounded the alarm over new variants of Covid-19 that have been detected in the United States, warning that the country is now in a race against time to vaccinate as many people as possible before the variants spread too far away and maybe trigger another wave of infections. .
Infectious disease expert Dr Michael Osterholm said earlier this week that an outbreak fueled by the variant first detected in the UK – the B.1.1.7 strain – is likely to occur ” in the next six to 14 weeks “.
And there are also concerns about what the variants will mean for the effectiveness of the vaccine. Studies have suggested that a variant from South Africa could pose a problem for vaccines, while a new report this week indicated that a mutation that could impact vaccines has also been detected in vaccines. samples of strain B.1.1.7.
Masks are now mandatory in US national parks

The best thing Americans can do now, Fauci said, is to stop the virus from spreading further and mutating.

“The only way for a virus to mutate (is) to be able to replicate. So if you vaccinate people and double the public health measures and keep the level of viral dynamics low, we won’t have an easy progression towards mutations, ”he said. “It’s something people really need to understand.”

“The way you stop these mutations: get yourself vaccinated and follow public health measures,” Fauci added.

Study: Young adults are the biggest spreaders of viruses in the United States

His comments came as a group of researchers reported on Tuesday that the biggest spreaders of Covid-19 in the United States are adults between the ages of 20 and 49 – and efforts to control the spread, including vaccinations, should probably focus on this age group.

The team of researchers at Imperial College London used cell phone location data covering more than 10 million people and publicly available information on the spread of the virus to calculate the most responsible age groups.

Fauci: Distribution of US Covid-19 vaccine 'will improve very quickly'

They estimated that people aged 35 to 49 accounted for 41% of new transmissions through mid-August, and adults aged 20 to 34 were responsible for an additional 35%. Children and adolescents only made up 6% of the spread. while those aged 50 to 64 accounted for 15% of the transmission.

Experts have previously warned that the outbreaks were largely driven by younger groups, Fauci said, but that does not mean these groups should get vaccinated “at the expense of vaccinating older people who have the conditions under-. underlying. “

“You don’t want to deprive them to get the younger ones because they are the ones who are going to end up in the hospital and have a higher death rate,” Fauci said.

More than 446,000 Americans have already lost their lives to the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University – and more than 100,000 have died this year alone.

States will see increased vaccine supply

Hoping to slow the pandemic as soon as possible, states have been pushing for more supplies and increasing their capabilities to get more gunfire faster.

Experts have split up on the postponement of the second doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. here's why

“Our challenge is supply, supply, supply,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said in a statement Tuesday. “Remember, we’re going to get everyone vaccinated, it’s just going to take a while.”

The Biden administration said on Tuesday it was increasing the weekly vaccine allocation to states, tribes and territories by a further 5%.

In New York City, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the increase would allow the state to provide about 20% more vaccine doses to local governments in the coming weeks, meaning they could choose to expand the guidelines. on those eligible for a vaccine.

New York officials plan to step up efforts to correct racial disparities in vaccination rates

“We have statewide priorities set by the federal government, but if a local government now receives more (doses) and believes in their local situation, they want to put taxi drivers first.” , to Uber drivers because they think this has been a problem or they have a developmental disability. facility or restaurant workers, they have that flexibility, ”Cuomo said at a press conference Tuesday.

The state has had to close and postpone numerous vaccination appointments following a huge winter storm that hit the region this week.

New York City officials said on Tuesday that people whose appointments had been canceled due to the weather would be contacted individually for a postponement, stressing the city had pledged not to take new ones. appointment until all these people have been taken care of.

Pharmacies are preparing to start vaccinations

The Biden administration also said on Tuesday that it would begin direct shipments of Covid-19 vaccines to retail pharmacies next week – from around 6,500 stores.

“Millions of Americans turn to their local drugstores every day for their medications, flu shots and more. And drugstores are easily accessible in most communities, with most Americans living within five miles. from a pharmacy, “” White House Covid-19 response coordinator said Jeff Zients.

If your loved one is hesitant to get the Covid-19 vaccine, share it

CVS said it will launch vaccinations next week as part of the federal program. The 11 states where the drugstore chain will begin vaccinations are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York (not including New York City), Rhode Island, South Carolina , Texas and Virginia.

Vaccination appointments can be booked as early as Feb.9 at CVS sites that offer the vaccine, according to the release, and eligibility requirements in each jurisdiction will still apply.

The additional doses of vaccine for pharmacies will come from increased productions by vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer, Zients said.

“This is all a result of the scaling up of manufacturing, and we hope we can do whatever we can, and we’ll do whatever we can, to continue this scaling and make more vaccine available, ”Zients said.

CNN’s Maggie Fox, Amanda Watts, Jacqueline Howard, Samira Said, Laura Ly, Virginia Langmaid and Gisela Crespo contributed to this report.

[ad_2]

Source link