[ad_1]
The CDC has no regulatory power to decide how to distribute the vaccine – that authority rests with individual states – but its guidance will be critical when the distribution process begins.
One reason for these guidelines is that vaccine supplies will initially be limited. Dr Moncef Slaoui, who leads the Trump administration’s Warp Speed operation, said in an interview with The Washington Post Tuesday that Pfizer and Moderna would be able to supply 60 to 70 million additional doses by January, as well as about 20-30 million doses in December, “hopefully.” Since each person receives two injections, that would be enough for about 50 million people, about 20 percent of the nation’s roughly 255 million adults.
Who goes next? The New York Times reported that the Department of Homeland Security has identified what it calls “Phase 1b,” a group of essential workers. it counts about 85 million Americans, which includes “teachers and others who work in schools, first responders, police officers, grocery workers, correction officers, public transport workers, and others whose jobs make working from home difficult or impossible.”
Thereafter, the vaccine will be distributed to the general population as more doses become available. As with the widely distributed flu vaccine, COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be administered in doctors’ offices, hospitals, emergency rooms, and pharmacies.
Ultimately, it is hoped that enough people receive the vaccine to create what is called “herd immunity,” the point at which a disease stops spreading widely in a population because enough people are immune to it, via a vaccine or recovering from your infection. Dr Anthony Fauci, the government’s leading infectious disease expert, has estimated that 60-70% of the population must be immune for this to happen and recently predicted that the point could come by the summer of 2021.
As for the cost, it will almost certainly be distributed free of charge, even to those Americans who have no health coverage, under a policy set by the Trump administration that Joe Biden has indicated will continue once he officially becomes president.
But making the vaccine available – and doing it for free – is one thing. Getting most Americans to actually get it could be another. Several surveys have shown a reluctance among a large part of the population to obtain the vaccine. An October 7-10 survey conducted by the STAT medical website and the Harris Poll found that only 58% of respondents said they would get vaccinated as soon as a vaccine was available, compared with 69% who said halfway through. August. A Gallup poll conducted around the same time found similar numbers.
.
[ad_2]
Source link
