Frustration is increasing with the deployment of the coronavirus vaccine. The Trump administration had promised 20 million doses of the vaccine by the end of the year, but so far no more than 3 million shots have been fired and just over 11 million doses have been sent.
President-elect Joe Biden suggested Tuesday that the Trump administration has over-promised and under-trained. Biden noted that, at the current rate, it would take years to vaccinate the country against COVID-19. Biden promised to speed up the pace of vaccinations and increase Americans ’confidence in the shots once he has been sworn in next month.
“This is the biggest operational challenge we have faced as a nation,” Biden said Tuesday.
Biden said his incoming administration will move heaven and earth to recover the vaccination effort. “We can do it, but it will take up to 1 million shots a day, however, it will take months for most to be vaccinated,” he said.
Biden gave few details on how his administration will achieve this mark, but said he would invoke the Defense Production Act to speed up supplies needed for vaccines. He described the initial payment of the recently approved COVID relief bill as $ 900 billion to control the pandemic.
Thousands of vulnerable seniors lined up across Florida Tuesday, some waiting overnight, hoping to secure a coveted first dose of the COVID vaccine. “She’s over 70, she has diabetes and we thought, like everyone else, that this is a life-threatening or life-threatening vaccine,” Marie Petitti said of her husband, Tony.
But there aren’t enough vaccines for everyone queuing in Lee County, which was ready until 7 a.m. Tuesday. Distribution has been slower than promised.
In Georgia, residents of nursing homes had just begun receiving the shot, 11 days after the FDA authorized the Modern vaccine.
“It’s incredibly frustrating. Ten months after this pandemic, we’re still talking about the basics of how to get vaccines in people’s arms,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the University’s School of Public Health. Brown.
“Clearly we have a high demand that is not being met and there is no well-coordinated and thoughtful plan on how we will vaccinate,” Jha added.
The distribution and execution plans correspond to the public health departments already detached.
COVID’s new relief bill has $ 8.75 billion for the distribution of vaccinations, including $ 4.5 billion for states. But it will take time to distribute that money, delaying vital outreach campaigns.