CDC director says federal government does not know how much Covid vaccine the U.S. has
WASHINGTON – The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Sunday that the federal government does not know how much coronavirus vaccine the nation has, a complication that provides to the already herculean job earlier than the Biden administration.
“I can’t tell you how much vaccine we have, and if I can’t tell it to you then I can’t tell it to the governors and I can’t tell it to the state health officials,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky advised “Fox News Sunday.”
“If they don’t know how much vaccine they’re getting not just this week but next week and the week after they can’t plan. They can’t figure out how many sites to roll out, they can’t figure out how many vaccinators that they need, and they can’t figure out how many appointments to make for the public,” Walensky stated.
In a dig at the Trump administration, Walensky stated the lack of understanding of vaccine provide is indicative of “the challenges we’ve been left with.”
Read extra: Biden surgeon general pick says U.S. racing to adapt against new Covid strains
President Joe Biden has set a objective to manage 100 million Covid-19 vaccine pictures inside his first 100 days. The Biden administration has been repeatedly pressed on whether or not that focus on is bold sufficient given the severity of the pandemic.
Walensky acknowledged that the U.S. should vaccinate folks sooner, however she stated the nation faces provide constraints. Production will improve after the first 100 days, Walensky stated, and the anticipated introduction of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine may even assist ease provide issues.
“We are really hoping that we’ll have more vaccines and that will increase the pace at which we can do the vaccinations,” Walensky stated.
White House chief of employees Ron Klain stated the nation additionally faces distribution issues as a result of the Trump administration, which began the program, did not have a transparent plan.
“The process of distributing the vaccine, particularly outside of nursing homes and hospitals, out into the community as a whole did not really exist when we came into the White House,” Klain advised MSNBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
“So, the process of getting that vaccine into arms, that’s the hard process, that’s where we are behind as a country and that’s where we are focused in the Biden administration on getting that ramped up,” he added.
White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, who served in the Trump administration, stated Sunday the Biden goal of 100 million doses in 100 days is not a remaining quantity.
“It is really a floor and not a ceiling,” Fauci advised CBS’ “Face The Nation”. “It is going to be a challenge. I think it was a reasonable goal that was set. We always want to do better than the goal that you’ve set.”
Those 100 million injections will cowl about 67 million folks, Fauci stated, a few of whom can have acquired the required two doses whereas others can have acquired just one dose. So far, the U.S. has administered practically 22 million doses, far beneath federal targets.
The have to vaccinate as many individuals as potential has taken on new urgency as the coronavirus mutates. Fauci stated the Covid-19 vaccines at the moment on the market may not be as effective against new strains.
Biden’s surgeon normal choose burdened on Sunday the U.S. is in a race to adapt towards the new variants.
“The virus is basically telling us that it’s going to continue to change and we’ve got to be ready for it,” Dr. Vivek Murthy stated throughout an interview with ABC News’ “This Week.”
“So the bottom line is, we’re in a race against these variants, the virus is going to change and it’s up to us to adapt and to make sure that we’re staying ahead,” Murthy stated.
When requested if the U.S. is in a race towards time earlier than a Covid variant emerges that renders the vaccines ineffective, Walensky stated Americans have to get inoculated once they have the alternative and cling to mitigation methods to disclaim the virus alternative to flow into.
“I would say we’ve been in a race all along,” Walensky stated. “The more virus that is out there, the more virus that is replicating, the more likely that we are going to have mutations and variants.”
