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The number of vaccinations is increasing every week. As of Thursday, nearly 46.4 million doses of the vaccine had been administered in the United States, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, those eligible are largely limited to the elderly, healthcare workers and those most vulnerable due to comorbidities.
But by April, that access could expand to the general public and most Americans could be vaccinated by mid to late summer, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Disease said. infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, on NBC’s “Today” show.
In the next 30 days alone, the National Pharmacy Association hopes pharmacies will administer more than 100 million doses.
The rise in vaccinations comes amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus variants. And a key question is whether the vaccines will work on the variants.
Dr Barney Graham, head of the lab and deputy director of the NIH’s Vaccine Research Center, told President Joe Biden on Thursday that the antibodies that vaccines produce against the virus can still attack it, even if the virus has been mutated.
“Antibodies have a lot of places to bind to. They can eventually lose their effectiveness, but I think we’re fine for now until more mutations have built up,” Graham said.
Vaccinations speed up the pace
Since the first shot on December 14, the average daily rate of coronavirus vaccine administrations in the United States has been increasing every week.
An average of 359,000 doses given each day in the first week of January rose to about 1.6 million doses per day this week.
And the pace is expected to accelerate further in March and April, allowing a larger segment of the population to become eligible, Fauci said.
“I imagine that by April it will be what I would call, you know, for better wording, an open season,” Fauci said. “Namely, virtually anyone and anyone in any category could start to get the vaccine.”
Biden, for his part, said Thursday that the United States was on track to provide vaccines to 300 million Americans “by the end of July.”
Biden also announced that the United States has purchased an additional Moderna and Pfizer vaccine.
States relax restrictions on coronaviruses
Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths have plummeted following flare-ups around the holidays; and as they do, some states are dropping their restrictions.
Nevada will begin a new plan next week to phase out state rules against gatherings by May 1. As of Monday, most businesses and places of worship will be able to accommodate up to 100 people, or 35% of their normal capacity. If coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to decline, capacity would drop to 50% on March 15.
“If we all want to see this transition to local control, let’s work together to continue to reduce our community transmission,” Governor Steve Sisolak said Thursday.
Indoor gathering limits in Wyoming will be raised to 25% of capacity or 500 people on Monday, and limits on sporting events, artistic performances, restaurants and gyms will be relaxed, Governor Mark Gordon said.
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed a bill protecting businesses and places of worship from legal liability for the transmission of Covid-19 as long as they take steps to follow public health guidelines and announced that he would not extend the mask’s mandate statewide.
“The mask’s mandate will expire on Friday,” the governor said, adding: “Since we are not out of the woods yet, I will continue to wear a mask, and I will encourage all Montanais to do the same.”
Although the numbers have improved, health experts have warned that precautions are still important to limit the spread of more transmissible variants.
Nursing homes with more black residents report more coronavirus deaths
Meanwhile, a new study finds that the impact of the pandemic has been disproportionately higher for black and Latin populations in the United States.
Researchers in the study in the journal JAMA Network Open noted that nursing homes with more white residents had better resident health, higher grades, more nursing hours, and were located in counties with fewer cases of coronavirus per capita.
And they found that the average number of coronavirus deaths was more than three times higher in nursing homes with the highest proportion of black residents compared to those with the highest proportion of white residents.
To help stem future outbreaks, the researchers suggest that resources should be focused on supporting nursing homes with more non-white residents.
CNN’s Samira Said, Deidre McPhillips, Maggie Fox, Andy Rose, Jason Hanna, Christina Maxouris Konstantin Toropin and Lauren Mascaren contributed to this report.
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