[ad_1]
A senior California health official said on Wednesday that COVID-19 vaccination for those 65 and older could take four to five months, although there is hope that this timeline will improve under the Biden administration. .
Dr Erica Pan said the projection is based on the state’s population of approximately 6.2 million people aged 65 and over. The goal is to vaccinate 70% of these people, or 4.34 million elderly people, with two doses.
With current federal government allocations, the state receives about 400,000 doses per week, or 500,000 in a good week. At this rate, it could take until June to inject injections into the arms of the elderly.
“We don’t know when that supply will increase, but that’s about what we got,” Pan said at a meeting of the state’s vaccine advisory committee. “I know we estimate between 20 and 22 weeks for us to actually go through 65 and over … What we all need to collectively achieve is as many guns vaccines as possible.”
Pan said vaccinating the elderly is crucial as they are disproportionately affected by the virus; those 61 and over account for 65% of all ICU admissions and 83% of all deaths.
As California struggles to meet the challenge of vaccinating everyone who awaits them, officials are pinning their hopes on President Joe Biden’s pledge to increase resources for immunization. It is hoped that the state’s vaccination rate will accelerate.
“Under a Biden administration, our country has a chance to fight this virus,” California State Senator Scott Wiener said Wednesday.
Dr George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology and head of the division of infectious diseases and global epidemiology at UCSF, hopes that vaccine deployment will improve in the coming weeks under a new administration. “I suspect things are going to really pick up on here shortly,” said Rutherford.
A recent obstacle in the rollout has been the discontinuation of the administration of injections of a batch of Moderna vaccine after some people became ill.
California on Wednesday said it was safe to resume use of the vaccine, releasing more than 300,000 doses to counties, cities and hospitals struggling to find supplies.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
[ad_2]
Source link