(Newser)
– With the end of December, the United States has fallen far short of the goal of vaccinating 20 million people by the end of the month. According to the CDC, about 11.4 million doses of coronavirus vaccine have been distributed but only 2.1 million have been administered. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses administered weeks apart. Administration officials have admitted that the release has been slower than expected, although they say a delay in reporting means the number of people vaccinated is higher than CDC figures show. , as reported by CNBC. But even with a possible count, the United States “is certainly not in the numbers we wanted to be in late December,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Tuesday.
“Even if you count less than 2 million, how much could you import?” Fauci said. “So we’re below where we want to be.” President-elect Joe Biden said Tuesday that the effort has been “far behind.” He warned that “if it continues to move as it does, it will take years, not months, to vaccinate the American people,” ABC reports. He promised that when he takes office next month, he will “move heaven and earth” to meet his administration’s goal of delivering 100 million shots in his first 100 days as president. He said the mass vaccination program will take “longer than the Trump administration’s promises have suggested,” but added, “This will be the biggest operational challenge we have ever faced as a nation and we will get it done.” “. (Biden plans to invoke the Defense Production Act to speed things up.)