Demand for coronavirus vaccines exceeds supply in America

Now that nearly half of America’s population may be eligible for coronavirus vaccines, America is facing the problem that experts thought we would have from the start: demand for the vaccine exceeds supply.

Why is this important: The Trump administration’s call for states to open up access to vaccines to all Americans 65 and older and adults with pre-existing conditions may have helped remove some bottlenecks in the process. distribution, but it also led to a different kind of chaos.

The big picture: The United States has only administered around 14.7 million doses, per Bloomberg, well below the 20 million doses expected by the end of December. Almost half of the doses distributed were administered.

• Vaccine suppliers were adhering too rigidly to the prioritization guidelines, experts said, prompting the administration to release its new guidelines.
• But the process has also faced the complex logistics of a mass vaccine distribution program, and making more people eligible for vaccines does not solve problems such as the shortage of vaccinators.

What is happening: We have always known that vaccines can only be manufactured, distributed and administered at a limited rate. We are now seeing these limitations play out in real time.

• Americans who are eligible for the vaccine cannot get appointments because all available slots fill up almost immediately after they open.
• In some places, where vaccines are administered on a first-come, first-served basis, people have lined up for hours – or even overnight – to try to get vaccinated.
• New York site said last week that all vaccine appointments are booked for the next 14 weeks. Although 7 million New Yorkers are eligible, the state only receives 300,000 doses of vaccine per week from the federal government.

The change in federal direction was announced with the Trump administration’s decision to stop withholding second doses of vaccine and instead distribute all available vaccines to states.

• But the administration had already started doing so, the Washington Post reported, which means there is no additional supply of vaccine doses to send.

The bottom line: The vaccine supply was always going to be our biggest problem over the next few months. What we have underestimated are the logistical challenges that have unfolded in recent weeks.