Demand for vaccines collapses, US states reject hundreds of thousands of doses

NEW YORK.- Several North American states are rejecting doses of Covid-19 vaccines assigned to them by the federal government, and the average daily dose in the United States has fallen below two million for the first time since early March.. Experts say the decline in state orders reflects declining demand for vaccines in the United States.

According to agency information Associated press, officials of Wisconsin They only requested 8% of the 162,680 doses the federal government had reserved for them for next week. Iowa He only asked for 29% of the doses intended for the state. And for next week, in Illinois they plan to request only 9% of the allocated doses for all cities in the state except Chicago.

North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington state and Connecticut are also reducing their vaccine orders.

Faced with the collapse in demand for vaccines and the slowdown in the spread of the virus in the United States, administration Biden faces increasing pressure to share its excess dose with countries like India, swept away by a wave of catastrophic contagion. About 83% of vaccines were given in high and upper middle income countries, while only 0.3% of doses were given in low income countries.

Amesh A. Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Center for Health Security, said the variation in demand was to be expected, that after those most interested in being vaccinated received the doses, the vaccination process would acquire a “more problematic profile”.

Adalja says there are people who are reluctant to get the vaccine or have other reasons not to, and this has led to a drop in demand. Nationwide, since the peak in mid-April, with 3.38 million doses given per day, average daily doses have fallen by about 41%.. In turn, this has led states to order fewer doses than at the start.

But some places, like New York, Maryland, and Colorado, still ask for the full amount they allocated. To increase demand again, authorities need to make the vaccine as accessible as possible, says Adalja, by increasing the availability of non-shift clinics or even launching a door-to-door vaccination campaign.

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is very convenient because it is a single dose and can be stored at normal refrigeration temperatures for at least three months, making it much easier to dispense. But the quota for this vaccine has been low in the United States, following a suspension for extremely rare cases of blood clots that was lifted last month, and which has contributed to the decline in vaccinations in general.

“When the application of a vaccine is stopped, it is very difficult to resume it,” explains Adalja. Faced with the drop in vaccinations, the president Joe biden changed his government’s strategy to fight the pandemic. The changes include creating a federal repository of vaccine doses available to states when they need them, rather than distributing them strictly on the basis of population, and investing millions of dollars in “community outreach.” to reach neglected communities, young Americans and those who are reluctant to get vaccinated.

Mass vaccination centers will take a back seat and promote the opening of smaller vaccinations. Pharmacies will allow people to get vaccinated without a shift, and mobile and temporary clinics will distribute vaccines, especially in rural areas. Federal officials also plan to enlist the help of family physicians and other community leaders.

Adalja warns that if the country wants to vaccinate more people, federal guidelines should take special care to avoid “missing the vaccine” and emphasize its virtues. The expert suggests that health restrictions, such as those relating to travel and the use of masks, could be completely relaxed for those vaccinated, in order to promote vaccination. “There are several steps behind what infectologists like me tell them they can do to people who are fully vaccinated.”

Experts warn that with the spread of more contagious variants of the virus, states with overdue vaccination – particularly in the south – could be particularly vulnerable to outbreaks in the weeks to come. Texas and North Carolina are below the national average for vaccinations, with about 40% of the population receiving at least one dose. In Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, about a third of adult residents received the first dose.

Translation of Ignacio Mackinze

The New York Times

The New York Times