The United States increased vaccinations against COVID-19 in recent days after a slower-than-expected start, bringing the number of shots fired to close to 4 million, officials said Sunday. government health services.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, also told ABC’s “This Week” that President-elect Joe Biden’s commitment to administer 100 million shots of the vaccine during the his first 100 days in office.
And he rejected President Donald Trump’s false claim on Twitter that coronavirus deaths and cases in the United States have been greatly exaggerated.
“All you have to do … is go into the trenches, go into the hospitals, go into the intensive care units and see what happens. They’re real numbers, real people, and real dead, ”Fauci told NBC’s“ Meet the Press. ”
According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, the death toll in the United States has exceeded 350,000, most in all countries, while more than 20 million people across the country have been infected. States have reported a record number of cases in recent days and funeral homes in Southern California are flooded with bodies.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the pandemic is getting worse in his city as the virus spreads rapidly to homes and people lower their guard. “This is a virus that is removed from our weakness, it is depressed from our exhaustion,” he said.
Experts believe that the actual numbers of deaths and infections in the United States are much higher and that many cases were overlooked, in part because of insufficient evidence.
Fauci said he has seen “a little light of hope” after 1.5 million doses were administered in the previous 72 hours, or an average of about 500,000 a day, a marked increase in vaccinations. He said that brings the total to about 4 million.
He acknowledged that the United States met its goal of transporting and distributing 20 million doses by the end of December.
“There have been a couple of failures. That is understandable, “Fauci said.” We are not where we want to be, there is no doubt about that. “
But he expressed optimism that the momentum will increase in mid-January and that the U.S. will eventually vaccinate 1 million people a day. “Biden’s goal of vaccinating 100 million people in the first 100 days is a realistic goal,” Fauci said.
Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed, the government’s vaccine distribution and distribution effort, told CBS that 17.5 million doses have been sent. According to Fauci, about 13 million of these have been distributed to clinics, hospitals and other places where they will be administered.
The 20 million dose target has not been met because local health departments and medical facilities had to stay focused on testing to handle an increase in cases, said U.S. surgeon general Jerome Adams. And the holiday season meant health workers were taking time off, he said.
“I don’t want anyone to think I’m being Pollyannish here. There is what we have delivered and we hope it translates into vaccines. This has not happened the way we would like, “Adams told CNN’s” State of the Union. ”
On Sunday morning, Trump falsely tweeted that the outbreak has been “greatly exaggerated” because of the “ridiculous” methodology of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He also complained that Fauci has been credited by the media for having done “incredible work” when Fauci “works for me and the Trump Administration, and in no way is I given any merit for my work.”
Fauci and others warn that there is likely to be an additional increase due to holiday meetings and the cold that keeps people inside.
“It could and probably will get worse in the coming weeks or at least keep that terribly high level of infections and deaths we’re seeing,” Fauci said.
Concerns are spreading abroad, where British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there are likely to be heavier blocking restrictions in England as a coronavirus variant has raised infection rates to levels highest recorded. Over the past six days, more than 50,000 new infections have been reported daily.
Scientists have said the variant is up to 70% more contagious. Although Fauci said the United States should do its own study, he tried to reassure viewers that British researchers believe the mutated version is no more deadly or more likely to make people sicker. and that vaccines are effective against it.
But Scott Gottlieb, a former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner who serves on the board of vaccine maker Pfizer, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that the variant “really creates more urgency in time to try to get this vaccine out faster and get more people vaccinated. “
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Associated Press writers from around the world contributed to this report.