US coronavirus: Officials call for more vaccine doses as US death toll surpasses 400,000

The number of people in the United States who have died from the virus has increased rapidly over the past year to reach the 400,000 ominous markers on Tuesday. And although the rate of new cases has declined recently, experts warn that a variant of the virus could cause cases to spike again.

When President-elect Joe Biden’s administration takes office, Osterholm has said he will do everything in his power to strengthen the cast. But, he said, “we can’t make the vaccine go much faster than it currently is,” adding that officials will need to plan dramatic measures to keep the variant under control.

“The difference will be, ‘Are we going to react now or later? “Said Osterholm.” Do we put on the brakes after the car is wrapped around the shaft, or do we try to put the brakes on before leaving the intersection?

Officials say they need more vaccines

Calls for faster vaccine deployments have heightened questions about what vaccine doses are supposed to be stored, concerns that infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci says are a misunderstanding.

“In the beginning when we wanted to make sure that everyone who got a dose got a second dose. Due to the uncertainty as to the regularity of the deployment of the available doses, half of the doses would be retained. that people would be guaranteed their second dose, ”Fauci told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday.

Now, with more confidence in the consistent distribution, the doses that were withheld have been made available, Fauci said.

But national and local authorities fear the offer will not be enough to keep the momentum going.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health said its supply would be depleted by Thursday if there is no additional allocation. New York is expected to run out on the same day, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Tuesday.

“If we don’t get more vaccines quickly, we will have to cancel the appointments,” said de Blasio.

Due to their low vaccine supply, Baptist Health South Florida has canceled all vaccination appointments for anyone due to receive a first dose starting Wednesday.

Georgia is set up for vaccines with volunteer staff and infrastructure, but there aren’t enough doses available in the state, said Dr Kathleen Toomey, Georgia Department of Health commissioner.

“We get around 80,000 doses a week and that’s not a lot for a state of 11 million people,” she said.

Will the vaccines protect against the variant?

But other experts are convinced that the vaccines will protect against the variant.

“The vaccine’s effectiveness is so good and so high that we have a little cushion,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Howard Bauchner, editor of JAMA on Tuesday.

With a starting point of around 95% effectiveness, Walensky said that although the vaccines are slightly less effective against the newer variants, they will still be more effective than most vaccines.

“This will work against the variant,” she says. “Will it be 95%? Maybe. Will it be 70%? Maybe. But our flu shots aren’t 75% effective every year and we still get them.”