News Millions of U.S. COVID-19 vaccines sit unused, putting 2020 goal in doubt

[XXX]

Millions of COVID-19 vaccines are sitting unused in U.S. hospitals and elsewhere a week into the massive inoculation campaign, putting the government’s target for 20 million vaccinations this month in doubt.

As of Wednesday morning, only 1 million shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine had been given, about one-third of the first shipment sent last week. Over 9.5 million doses of vaccines, including Moderna’s, have now been sent to states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Trump administration promised to vaccinate 20 million by the end of the year while providing little funding to achieve the goal.

That’s nine days to give out nearly 19 million shots or over 2 million people vaccinated a day including on Christmas Day.

He said experts at the hospital modeled that giving Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine would take 10 minutes, about two to three times as long as a flu shot, due to the procedures needed because the vaccine is stored in a deep freeze. Patients need to socially distance before and after being given the vaccine and be monitored for allergic reactions.

States and health departments need federal money to hire staff, from data center workers to track inoculations to call center employees to field questions, said Adriane Casalotti, chief of government and public affairs of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

The U.S. Congress’s current coronavirus aid package sets aside more than $8 billion for vaccine distribution but is delayed.

“You can’t hire someone in December and train them up if you don’t know you can pay them in January,” Casalotti said.

Millions of U.S. vaccine doses sit on ice, putting 2020 goal in doubt

Millions of COVID-19 vaccines are sitting unused in U.S. hospitals and elsewhere a week into the massive inoculation campaign, putting the government's target for 20 million vaccinations this month in doubt.

www.reuters.com