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NC coronavirus update January 27: North Carolina to get first shipment of federal COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday

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RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Here are the latest updates about COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in North Carolina.

Have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine? Send them to us here

WEDNESDAY MORNING STORYLINES

North Carolina will receive its first federal shipment of COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday. The 120,000 doses of the vaccine the state receives each week will be less than what’s been made available so far from the state’s supply.

Gov. Roy Cooper will speak Wednesday afternoon along with the state’s COVID-19 task force. Cooper is expected to answer questions about the state’s vaccine supply. North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen has said the state is finished giving out its backlog of shots.

Gov. Cooper is scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. The briefing will be carried live on ABC11 and abc11.com and on the free ABC11 North Carolina Streaming App.

A driver-thru vaccination clinic at Galot Motorsports Parks on NC 242 in Dunn will begin at 10 a.m. today and continue as long as supplies last. The clinic is for healthcare workers and adults 65 and older. You don’t have to register, but you will need to bring a form of ID.

TUESDAY

11 p.m.
What happens to unused COVID-19 vaccines at the end of the day? ABC11’s Josh Chapin spoke to a UNC doctor who said once vials are opened, they have a shortened shelf live. When there’s 30 minutes left in the day, UNC pulls from a priority list containing local workers in the area to get the shots.

4 p.m.
The number of hospitalizations in North Carolina increased slightly on Tuesday after a couple days of decreases.

3,368 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, NCDHHS reported. That’s 72 more people than Monday.

303 confirmed COVID-19 patients were admitted in the last 24 hours.

3,987 new cases were reported on Tuesday. That number was the lowest we’ve seen this month, however, test reporting was also low.

21,846 tests were completed. Normally that number is above 50,000.

The percent positive in the state is at 13.3 percent.

3:45 p.m.
The Biden administration is giving states an approximately 17% boost in vaccine next week following complaints around the U.S. of shortages so severe that some vaccination sites had to cancel tens of thousands of appointments with people waiting for their first shot.

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM BIDEN:

Detailed figures posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website Tuesday showed that the government plans to make about 10.1 million first and second doses available next week, up from this week’s allotment of 8.6 million. The figures represent doses of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The increase comes as vaccination sites around the U.S. are canceling large numbers of appointments because of vaccine shortages. Governors and top health officials have complained about inadequate supplies and the need for earlier and more reliable estimates of how much is on the way so that they can plan accordingly.

1:15 p.m.
North Carolina healthcare providers have administered 95% of all available first doses of COVID-19 vaccine, with North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen saying she’s confident the remaining 5% will be given out just in time for the next shipment from the federal government Wednesday.

Cohen said 630,000 people have received first doses (another 180,000 have received both first and second doses). In the past week, health officials have used 260,000 doses — a major increase when compared to the first weeks of vaccine doses arriving in the state.

Cohen said now that the state has largely exhausted its backlog of first doses, NCDHHS is outlining a process for allocations that will provide more transparency and certainty to providers.

Cohen said that when the state first started receiving vaccine, it allocated doses to counties based on population, but to clear the state’s backlog and demonstrate to the federal government that North Carolina is capable of taking on more vaccine, NCDHHS moved to a “posture of speed,” asking certain providers to ramp up vaccinations at the expense of predictable allocations.

Cohen said this, along with the state committing to multiple large scale vaccination events, left some providers without any doses to administer.

“This week is going to feel particularly tight with many providers getting small, or no allocations,” Cohen said.

But moving forward, Cohen said providers will get a baseline amount of doses they can expect for the next three weeks.

Each week, North Carolina gets 120,000 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government.

Cohen said the state’s plan includes distributing 84,000 of those doses to counties based on population, which will then be divided among local providers based on their capacity to push them out quickly.

The remaining 36,000 doses will be used to balance vaccine distribution to counties and areas that need it most.

“We’re also asking providers to prioritize equity,” Cohen said. “The percentage of vaccines administered to historically marginalized communities should meet or exceed the population estimates of their communities in their county and region.”

Cohen said the state is helping counties achieve equitability by supporting providers with data entry, event planning, coordination amongst community players and registration assistance.

“Demand for vaccines far exceeds our supply,” Cohen reminded.

She said the state will continue to work to distribute vaccine as quickly as possible and to be transparent about where the vaccines are going and how they’re being used.

1 p.m.
The state has launched a new website to help everybody learn when they will be eligible to get a vaccine. Click here for that website.

NCDHHS also released the day’s COVID-19 metrics. The data showed another decrease in hospitalizations but an increase in the daily percent positive. To take a look at the numbers for yourself, click here.

10:30 a.m.
Durham County has confirmed its leaders are working on a mass vaccination site with plans to open in early February.

“We are still working out the details such as hours of operation, appointment scheduling, and other logistical considerations, but it is our goal to open to the public in the early weeks of February,” said Durham County Health Director Rodney Jenkins.

Officials now believe the site could vaccinate approximately 17,000 individuals per week in an update from an earlier projection. Vaccinations are currently ongoing at Southern Durham High School. You can call 919-560-HELP to schedule a vaccination.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen and Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry will speak to the media Tuesday afternoon at 1.

9:40 a.m.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is holding a virtual job fair on Tuesday to help those struggling with unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fair will be from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Job seekers will be able to speak with recruiters and hold one-on-one virtual interviews.

More information here.

9:30 a.m.
A new Brazilian variant of the coronavirus has made its first known appearance in the United States, in a person who had recently returned to Minnesota after traveling to that country, state health officials announced Monday.

The virus known as the Brazil P.1 variant was found in a specimen from a patient who lives in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and became ill the first week of January, the Minnesota Department of Health said in a statement. Epidemiologists were re-interviewing the person to obtain more details about the person’s illness, travel and contacts.

There was no immediate indication that the variant was spreading in the state.

Viruses are constantly mutating, and new versions – called variants – often emerge. Health officials are also worried about variants that were first reported in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Researchers believe they may spread more easily than the virus that’s already caused nearly 420,000 deaths in the United States.

9 a.m.
Duke University’s COVID-19 testing continued last week, netting 82 positive results after testing 27,865 students and 2.716 faculty and staff.

There were 62 positive results among students, who recently started classes for the spring semester. Students are required to be tested before starting classes and on-campus activities. The total positivity rate is 0.27 percent.

More data about Duke’s testing can be found here.

8:45 a.m.
The Moderna company is reporting its supplied 30.4 million doses of its brand of the COVID-19 vaccine to the U.S. government so far

In a release, Moderna said its trajectory of 100 million doses by the end of March is on target as well as its track to deliver 200 million doses to the government by the end of June. Around 10.1 million doses have been administered so far, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

TUESDAY MORNING STORYLINES

A newly-conceived mass vaccination site in Durham will be able to vaccinate as many as 45,000 people per week.

“We are delighted to report the state of North Carolina and Fidelity have reached an agreement as far as hosting a mass vaccination site,” Durham County Health Director Rodney Jenkins said at a county commissioners’ meeting on Monday night. Dr. Mandy Cohen requested the site be placed in Durham.

Jenkins told the county that he’ll work with the state and Durham Public Schools to scout out possible locations for the site. More details on the site are forthcoming.

The North Carolina Healthcare Association is calling on Gov. Roy Cooper to do more when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine in the state. The group wants more regular vaccine allocations to deal with the surge in demand. They feel the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services gave providers little to no advance notice when they decided to move forward with vaccinating adults 65 and older.

“At the end of the day, we’re taking directives, which in many cases is last minute, and we’re doing the best we can with it,” said Steve Lawler with the NCHA.

NCDHHS is giving an update on its effort Tuesday and asking providers to “aggressively provide opportunities” for vaccinations. NCDHHS said as of Sunday night, providers have administered 88% of all available doses. Meanwhile, suppliers are struggling with getting enough doses from the state.

The Governor said the state’s top priority is getting vaccines out quickly and equitably. Federal officials are being urged to make more vaccines available. There’s a drive-thru clinic at the Crown Expo Center today in Fayetteville, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

A food drive is happening Tuesday in Raleigh at PNC Arena to help families put food on the table. The North Carolina Community Action Association is holding the event, which starts at 10 a.m. A box with food, drinks and home goods will be given away while supplies last.

Cape Fear Valley Health clinics will no longer be able to accommodate walk-in vaccines for first-dose vaccinations at any of its four clinics. Appointments can still be made online.

Vice President Kamala Harris will receive her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday. Harris will get the shot at the National Institutes of Health.

MONDAY

11 p.m.
Duke University has identified a cluster of COVID-19 cases at Berkshire Ninth Street apartment complex.

A “cluster” is defined by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services as five or more related cases that are deemed to be in close proximity of time and location, such as a residential hall or apartment complex.

Duke said the five students in this cluster have been identified and are now isolating in a separate location.

6:19 p.m.

As of Monday, Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point (NHCCP) began vaccinating authorized TRICARE beneficiaries aged 75 years and older.

Beneficiaries aged 75 years and older should call the NHCCP Appointment Line at (252) 466-0921 (Option 3). The clinic will coordinate appointment times with command officials of active duty and frontline personnel who are eligible according the phase definition.

The Naval Clinic is NOT accepting patients for walk-in vaccinations at this time.

4:49 p.m.
For the third week in a row, the Orange County Health Department has not received any first dose allotment of COVID-19 vaccines from the NCDHHS. The lack of first dose allotment will not affect or delay the second vaccines for community members who have already received their first shot, the health department said. Anyone who has received their first vaccine from the Orange County Health Department will be contacted to make an appointment for their second dose by phone or email.

“As of January 24, 2021, all first doses of vaccine have been exhausted and it is not clear when we will be receiving more vaccine from the state.” said Orange County Health Director, Quintana Stewart. “Until the vaccine supply is significantly increased it will be weeks or perhaps months until we can complete vaccinations for Phases One and Two. We understand this must be frustrating for our community members to hear and we want let you know that we share in your frustration.”

The Health Department is scheduling health care workers, long-term care residents and staff and older adults ages 65 and older for appointments (Phase One and Two). There are 1.6 million people older than 65 in North Carolina. In Orange County there are approximately 22,000 people who are 65 years of age or older.

4:45 p.m.
In response to a letter the North Carolina Healthcare Association sent to Gov. Roy Cooper with several specific requests to improve the COVID-19 vaccination efforts in the state, the governor’s office responded, saying there’s simply not enough vaccine in the state to meet demands.

“The Governor’s top priority is getting vaccines out quickly and equitably,” the statement said. “The state has directed vaccines to all 100 counties and deployed high-throughput sites. Unused vaccine here could lead federal authorities to cut future allotments, so NCDHHS has pushed providers to exhaust North Carolina’s supply of first doses. However, the reality is that there is not enough vaccine here for those eligible and we need more. North Carolina providers have shown they can distribute more than double the state’s current weekly allotment and the Governor will continue to urge federal officials to make more vaccine available.”

READ THE FULL LETTER BELOW:

NCHA President Steve Lawler said the letter was a result of various conversations he’s had with Cooper and Cohen but didn’t want the concerns of hospitals and health systems he’s representing to get buried.

Among those issues expressed in the letter, Lawler called for more transparency and better communication.

“What we’ve asked, specifically is, one, involve us. Let us help you make good decisions because no one knows our patients and our communities as well as we do,” he said. “I think there’s a difference between providing directives and asking the people that are doing the work to participate in the design and development so that it’s done well. Because at the end of the day we’re taking directives- hospitals, health systems, community providers, health departments are taking this directive, which in many cases is last minute and we’re doing the best we can with it.”

4:45 p.m.
The Cumberland County Department of Public Health will be giving second doses only of the COVID-19 vaccine during a drive-thru clinic scheduled for Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be available and appointments are not needed for second doses. First and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine and second doses of the Moderna vaccine will be available at
clinics scheduled on Wednesday, and Friday at the Crown from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., while supplies last. People seeking second doses will be seen on a first-come, first-served basis or by appointment this week.

The Health Department will receive 975 first doses of Pfizer this week. Because of the limited supply of first doses and already scheduled first-dose appointments for the week, there will be reduced first-come, first-served opportunities on Wednesday and Friday.

Visit the County’s vaccine website for information on how to request an appointment block.

4:45 p.m.
A drive-thru COVID-19 testing event has been scheduled for next week in Moore County on January 28 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Morganton Road Sports Complex at 190 Fire Lane in Southern Pines.

The testing event is open to all residents of Moore County with no physician referral required. Testing is sponsored by the Moore County Health Department and Goshen Medical Center.

Everyone who wishes to participate in testing should register by calling (910) 267-2044.

There will be no out of pocket cost for testing.

All testing participants are instructed to remain in their vehicle throughout the testing.

4:20 p.m.
Lee County health officials announced six more COVID-19 deaths, bringing the county death total to 56 since March. The county said 253 more COVID-19 cases have been reported since last Monday, bringing the total to 4,682.

3:25 p.m.

NCDHHS launched a new online tool for North Carolinians to know when they are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Find My Vaccine asks a few questions to help determine what group you are in.

“Given the very limited supplies we currently have, there may be wait times, but every North Carolinian has a spot. A spot for accurate information. A spot in line. A spot to take their shot,” said NCDHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy K. Cohen.

As of Sunday evening, 88 percent of all first doses have been reported as being administered, according to NCDHHS.

Providers reported administering more than 260,000 doses this past week. As of Monday, the CDC ranked North Carolina 10th in total vaccines administered and 29th in vaccines administered per 100,000 people.
Beginning on Jan. 27, North Carolina will have only 120,000 doses to allocate across the entire state. A large portion of those doses are committed to the large-scale events planned several weeks ago to address the backlog in vaccine. As a result, many providers are getting small or no allocations for the coming week. Through no fault of their own, they will be postponing appointments.

Answering your questions about when & where you can get a COVID-19 vaccine in NC

2:43 p.m.
Wake County is inviting health-care workers and anyone age 65 or older to join its COVID-19 vaccine waiting list. The county also is holding free, drive-thru COVID-19 testing events at Lake Benson Park through January 31.

1:47 p.m.
Because of a change in the number of COVID-19 vaccines that Cape Fear Valley Health has been allotted by the State of North Carolina, the health system has had to reconfigure the way in which it runs its COVID-19 vaccination clinics.

Effective Tuesday, the health system will no longer be able to accommodate walk-ins for first-dose vaccinations at any of the four vaccine clinics in operation at Cape Fear Valley Rehabilitation Center, Health Pavilion North, Hoke Hospital and Bladen County Hospital.

Appointments can be scheduled online to receive a first-dose vaccination. Appointments will be opened for a given week the Saturday before.

At this time, no appointment is required for the second dose, but this may change as supply levels fluctuate. Cape Fear asks that people return to the same location where they received their first dose to receive the second dose.

1:40 p.m.
The North Carolina Healthcare Association sent a letter to Gov. Roy Cooper with several specific requests to improve the COVID-19 vaccination efforts in the state.

The letter includes seven different bullet points that the group believes would help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the vaccine rollout.

READ THE FULL LETTER BELOW:

1:10 p.m.
Sampson County reports 16 new cases for a total of 6,076 positive cases.

There have been three additional deaths since Friday for a countywide total of 78.

12:53 p.m.
The Halifax County Health Department said that because of the limited allowance of vaccination from the state, it will vaccinate on Wednesday only this week. COVID 19 vaccinations will be offered at Halifax Community College Building 700 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. for group 1 and group 2 only.

If you are unable to walk, a health department worker will come and vaccinate you while you remain in your car.

Halifax County also reports 87 new cases and four additional deaths.

The county now has 4,058 total positive COVID 19 cases and 74 deaths.

Daily Lab Confirmed Cases
12:05 p.m.
Wake County Health Department reports it received less than 1,000 new doses of the COVID-19 vaccine this week.

The department said it requested 3,000 doses, but instead only received one case of the Pfizer vaccine (975 doses).

Earlier today, UNC Health reported receiving just 10,000 doses of the vaccine, despite preparing for as many as 30,000.

ABC11 is working to see if other local agencies also received fewer vaccines than requested, and to get a comment from NCDHHS about the allocation decisions for this week.

12 p.m.
COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped yet again in Monday’s report–marking the lowest count of 2021.

The number of people hospitalized with the virus is listed at 3,287. That’s the lowest since Dec. 27.

The daily percent positive also decreased, falling to 10.2%. That number remains well above the state’s 5% goal, which we were achieving at times during the summer.

Since the start of the pandemic, 8,720 people have died from the virus in North Carolina. For a full look at the state’s latest numbers, click here.

10:50 a.m.
The Carolina Hurricanes have rescheduled another game due to COVID-19.

The Hurricanes’ home game against the Tampa Bay Lightning originally scheduled for Tuesday will now be played Feb. 22. Last week, Carolina postponed games against Nashville and Florida due to COVID-19 safety measures.

10:30 a.m.
UNC Health will get 10,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the state this week, with that number being less than half of what was expected.

The UNC Health system said it would not cancel or postpone any appointments based on the news. The lower allocation meant fewer appointments were scheduled.

“We understand the frustration and disappointment of not being able to get an appointment for a vaccination more quickly,” said Dr. Ian Buchanan, UNC Health President of Ambulatory and Post-Acute Care. “This is truly an issue of supply and demand. We are very aware of the angst this is causing everyone who is eligible now to receive a vaccine and cannot get an appointment or who spends hours online trying to get one.”

UNC Health asks that patients call the state’s COVID-19 at 1-877-490-6642 or look online to find a vaccination location. UNC has given out more than 75,000 shots since the vaccination program started in December.

10:20 a.m.
Wake County has declared a COVID-19 outbreak at an assisted living home in Cary, the second one at the facility since September.

Brookdale MacArthur Park, on MacArthur Drive, has had its second outbreak of the pandemic. An outbreak is defined as a situation where two or more people – residents or employees – tested positive. No other information about the residents or employees was disclosed.

10:15 a.m.
The state has rolled out a COVID-19 Community Readiness toolkit to help those with disabilities and mental health issues. The toolkit contains resources for parents helping their children through remote learning as well as family-based needs.

The toolkit can be found here.

“These are unprecedented, stressful times, and we know families and individuals are being faced with existing and new mental health challenges,” said Victor Armstrong, Director of the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, Substance Abuse Services. “We want to provide North Carolinians with this toolkit to give them all the support they need to navigate these difficult times to stay healthy physically and mentally.”

MONDAY MORNING STORYLINES

Three new COVID-19 testing sties will open in Wake County on Monday.

Jaycee Park and Sertoma Arts Center in Raleigh along with Lake Benson Park in Garner will be open for testing. All sites are reachable by public transportation and begin at 11 a.m. You don’t need an appointment, insurance or ID to get tested.

For the full, up-to-date list of Wake County testing sites (including hours of operation), click here.

Sunday marked the fourth straight day of more than 100 COVID-19-related deaths in North Carolina. Over the weekend, the U.S. passed 25 million cases, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

In Chatham County, more than 400 people (healthcare workers and those over 65) are expected to get vaccinated at the Chatham County Agricultural and Conference Center on Monday.

President Joe Biden is expected to reinstate the COVID-19 travel restrictions on non-US citizens who have been in Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and much of Europe

Copyright © 2021 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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US

Biden raises the bar on vaccines and suggests US will get to 1.5 million a day

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“I’m quite confident that we will be in a position within the next three weeks or so to be vaccinating people at the range of 1 million a day or in excess of that,” he told reporters, clarifying that he was referring to 100 million shots, not necessarily 100 million people, since some of the vaccines require more than one shot.

Biden said the key factors in ramping up vaccinations are having enough vaccine, having enough syringes and other necessary equipment and having enough people administering them. He said his administration is working to produce additional vaccinators — people who can administer the vaccine.

“I think with the grace of God, the goodwill of the neighbor and the creek not rising, as the old saying goes, I think we may be able to get that to 1.5 million a day, rather than 1 million a day,” he said.

Biden’s announcement came the same day that officials for Pfizer and Moderna said it will take time to scale up manufacturing for their vaccines.

Moderna President Dr. Stephen Hoge relayed that vaccine makers have an obligation to maintain quality and consistency as they scale up capacity.

“That’s the frustrating thing about scaling up,” Hoge said.

The increase in vaccinations will not necessarily move the target timeline for getting vaccines to anyone in the US who wants one.

The President said that he thinks anyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get it by this spring, a target date similar to one set under the Trump administration.

Biden’s commitment to ramp up coronavirus vaccinations comes among a larger list of efforts discussed the White House on Monday to address the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden signed a presidential proclamation on Monday reinstating the travel restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic for individuals traveling to the United States from the Schengen Area in Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil and South Africa.

And speaking to reporters, Biden also referenced the importance of creating a forum where Americans “can show up, stand in line, and get their vaccine without having to stand in line for eight hours — being able to pick up the phone, call the pharmacy and get your name on the list(.)”

But the new efforts come amid ongoing confusion and urgent concerns across different states over the country’s coronavirus vaccine supply and distribution.

Earlier Monday, New York City Health Commissioner David Chokshi told CNN that the city “does not have enough doses” of Covid-19 vaccine to “be able to meet the demand we know exists among New Yorkers.”

Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, said Florida’s capacity far outweighs the amount of vaccine they have been given by the federal government. And Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker similarly said that the state is “setting up the capacity to administer far more doses, then we are currently receiving or projecting to receive from the (federal government).”

Over the last two days, both Biden’s top spokeswoman, White House press secretary Jen Psaki, and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said they did not know the what the current coronavirus vaccine supply levels are. Both blamed the Trump administration for the problem.

But speaking to press on Monday, Biden claimed that his administration does know how many coronavirus vaccines are available in the US. However, he did not disclose any concrete numbers.

“(W)e are optimistic that we will have enough vaccine. And in very short order. As you know, we came in office without knowledge of how much vaccine was out being held in abeyance are available. Now that we’re here, we’ve been around a week or so, we now have that,” Biden said. “And we’ve gotten commitments from some of the producers that they will in fact produce more vaccine in a relatively short period of time and then continue that down the road.”

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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Health

Biden travel restrictions; nursing home vaccines

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CLOSE

There are many questions surrounding Covid-19 vaccines, one of which is whether vaccines can be mixed and matched. Veuer’s Johana Restrepo has more.

Buzz60

COVID-19 has killed nearly 420,000 Americans in a year, and infections have continued to mount despite the introduction of a pair of vaccines late in 2020. USA TODAY is tracking the news. Keep refreshing this page for the latest updates. Sign up for our Coronavirus Watch newsletterfor updates to your inbox, join our Facebook group or scroll through our in-depth answers to reader questions.

One of the world’ largest drug companies has abandoned its COVID-19 vaccine development effort, citing “inferior” immune responses.

Two vaccines already are in use and several more are in the pipeline, so Merck’s decision should have minimal impact on vaccination progress across the nation,

“We are grateful to our collaborators who worked with us on these vaccine candidates and to the volunteers in the trials,” said Dr. Dean Y. Li, president of Merck Research Laboratories.

Merck said it will concentrate on COVID-19 treatments, an area where demand is strong. The world is likely to reach 100 million reported COVID-19 infections this week. A quarter of them are Americans.

In the headlines:

►Moderna said Monday its vaccine is effective against COVID variants emerging from Britain and South Africa. The company also said it is developing a new booster shot that could enhance effectiveness against new variants.

►Every nursing home resident and caregiver in America who wants to be vaccinated against COVID-19 should have received at least their first shot by tonight. Walgreens and CVS, which the Trump administration hired to deliver the shots, say they are on track to meet the deadline.

►A bipartisan group of lawmakers met virtually with Biden administration officials Sunday to push forward plans for vaccine distribution and another massive stimulus.

► Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he tested positive for the coronavirus but that the symptoms are mild.

► President Joe Biden today will announce a ban on travel to the U.S. from South Africa for most non-U.S. citizens. Biden will also reinstate restrictions for Brazil, the U.K., Ireland and 26 countries in Europe, a White House source confirmed to USA TODAY on Sunday.

► Coronavirus vaccines may be less effective against new variants of the disease emerging in South Africa, Brazil and other areas of the world, Britain’s health minister warned.

📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has more than 25.1 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 419,200 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 99.2 million cases and 2.1 million deaths.

📘 What we’re reading: President Joe Biden is seeking to reset the nation’s inconsistent coronavirus testing efforts with a $50 billion plan and more federal oversight. Read more here.

Japan scrambling for ‘herd immunity’ as Tokyo Olympics draw near

Japan’s vaccine effort is falling short and could imperil the Tokyo Olympics, at least one expert warns. 

Japan probably won’t achieve herd immunity to COVID-19 through mass inoculations until months after the Tokyo Olympics, which are scheduled to begin July 23, Rasmus Bech Hansen, the founder of British research firm Airfinity, told Reuters. 

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has pledged to have enough shots for the populace by the middle of 2021. Hansen, however, said Japan will not reach a 75% inoculation rate, a benchmark for herd immunity, until around October.

“Japan looks to be quite late in the game,” Hansen said. “They’re dependent on importing many (vaccines) from the U.S. And at the moment, it doesn’t seem very likely they will get very large quantities.”

In rural Pennsylvania, COVID-19 is making a tragic mark

The pandemic hasn’t bypassed rural America, and it’s not going away.

In the Pennsylvania town of Beaver, 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, vaccine shots are nearly impossible to get. Nurses at Heritage Valley Beaver had to open a second COVID-19 unit to treat all of the critically ill patients. The community-based health system recently treated 115 patients simultaneously with COVID-19.

“The struggle to just breathe. It sounds like a small thing, you just keep breathing, it is not a small thing,” said Rebecca Register, 40, of Beaver, a seven-year veteran nurse who works on the COVID-19 unit. “Watching someone struggle with that, and they’re on the highest amount of oxygen that I can give them at any time and it’s ripping your heart out.” Read more here.

– Daveen Rae Kurutz, Beaver County Times

2 in 5 Americans live where COVID-19 strains hospital ICUs

Straining to handle record numbers of COVID-19 patients, hundreds of the nation’s intensive care units are running out of space and supplies and competing to hire temporary traveling nurses at soaring rates. Many of the facilities are clustered in the South and West.

An Associated Press analysis of federal hospital data shows that since November, the share of U.S. hospitals nearing the breaking point has doubled. More than 40% of Americans now live in areas running out of ICU space, with only 15% of beds still available.

Intensive care units are the final defense for the sickest of the sick, patients who are nearly suffocating or facing organ failure. Nurses who work in the most stressed ICUs, changing IV bags and monitoring patients on breathing machines, are exhausted.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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World

China Wanted to Show Off Its Vaccines. It’s Backfiring.

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China’s coronavirus vaccines were supposed to deliver a geopolitical win that showcased the country’s scientific prowess and generosity. Instead, in some places, they have set off a backlash.

Officials in Brazil and Turkey have complained that Chinese companies have been slow to ship the doses and ingredients. Disclosures about the Chinese vaccines has been slow and spotty. The few announcements that have trickled out suggest that China’s vaccines, while considered effective, cannot stop the virus as well as those developed by Pfizer and Moderna, the American drugmakers.

In the Philippines, some lawmakers have criticized the government’s decision to purchase a vaccine made by a Chinese company called Sinovac. Officials in Malaysia and Singapore, which both ordered doses from Sinovac, have had to reassure their citizens that they would approve a vaccine only if it has been proven safe and effective.

“Right now, I would not take any Chinese vaccine because there’s insufficient data,” said Bilahari Kausikan, an influential former official at Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He added that he would consider it only with “a proper report.”

At least 24 countries, most of them low and middle income, signed deals with the Chinese vaccine companies because they offered access at a time when richer nations had claimed most of the doses made by Pfizer and Moderna. But the delays in getting the Chinese vaccines and the fact that the vaccines are less effective mean that those countries may take longer to vanquish the virus.

Beijing officials who had hoped the vaccines would burnish China’s global reputation are now on the defensive. State media, meanwhile, has started a misinformation campaign against the American vaccines, questioning the safety of the Pfizer and Moderna shots and promoting the Chinese vaccines as a better alternative. They have also distributed online videos that have been shared by the anti-vaccine movement in the United States.

Liu Xin, an anchor with CGTN, the state broadcaster, asked on Twitter why the foreign media has failed to “follow up” on the deaths of people in Germany who have taken one vaccine — though scientists have said the people were already seriously ill. Ms. Liu’s tweet was shared by Zhao Lijian, a top spokesman at China’s foreign ministry.

George Gao, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has questioned the safety of the American vaccines because their developers used new techniques rather than the traditional method embraced by Chinese makers.

China had hoped its vaccines would prove it had become a scientific and diplomatic powerhouse. It remains on par with the United States in the number of vaccines approved for emergency use or in late stage trials. Sinopharm, a state-owned vaccine maker, and Sinovac have said they can produce up to a combined two billion doses this year, making them essential to the global fight against the coronavirus.

Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, their doses can be kept at refrigerated temperatures and are more easily transported, making them appealing to the developing world. They have been doled out as aid to countries like Pakistan and the Philippines.

China’s campaign has been plagued with doubts, however. Many people have memories of the country’s vaccine scandals. Several governments remain angry about Beijing’s lack of openness about the virus in the early days of the pandemic. Its efforts at the start of last year to distribute masks and protective equipment to the West came under fire amid reports of shoddy quality and the demands by Chinese officials for public thanks.

A YouGov survey this month of roughly 19,000 people in 17 countries and regions showed that most were distrustful of a Covid-19 vaccine made in China. The misinformation campaign surrounding Western vaccines could further undermine its image.

The delays in shipments to places like Brazil and Turkey have been the latest hitch.

In Turkey, the government initially promised that 10 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine would arrive in December. Only three million did in early January, according to Fahrettin Koca, Turkey’s health minister. He did not explain the reason for the shortfall, which has been criticized by opposition politicians. The remaining doses finally arrived on Monday, according to Anadolu, Turkey’s state-run news agency.

Covid-19 Vaccines ›

Answers to Your Vaccine Questions

While the exact order of vaccine recipients may vary by state, most will likely put medical workers and residents of long-term care facilities first. If you want to understand how this decision is getting made, this article will help.

Life will return to normal only when society as a whole gains enough protection against the coronavirus. Once countries authorize a vaccine, they’ll only be able to vaccinate a few percent of their citizens at most in the first couple months. The unvaccinated majority will still remain vulnerable to getting infected. A growing number of coronavirus vaccines are showing robust protection against becoming sick. But it’s also possible for people to spread the virus without even knowing they’re infected because they experience only mild symptoms or none at all. Scientists don’t yet know if the vaccines also block the transmission of the coronavirus. So for the time being, even vaccinated people will need to wear masks, avoid indoor crowds, and so on. Once enough people get vaccinated, it will become very difficult for the coronavirus to find vulnerable people to infect. Depending on how quickly we as a society achieve that goal, life might start approaching something like normal by the fall 2021.

Yes, but not forever. The two vaccines that will potentially get authorized this month clearly protect people from getting sick with Covid-19. But the clinical trials that delivered these results were not designed to determine whether vaccinated people could still spread the coronavirus without developing symptoms. That remains a possibility. We know that people who are naturally infected by the coronavirus can spread it while they’re not experiencing any cough or other symptoms. Researchers will be intensely studying this question as the vaccines roll out. In the meantime, even vaccinated people will need to think of themselves as possible spreaders.

The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine is delivered as a shot in the arm, like other typical vaccines. The injection won’t be any different from ones you’ve gotten before. Tens of thousands of people have already received the vaccines, and none of them have reported any serious health problems. But some of them have felt short-lived discomfort, including aches and flu-like symptoms that typically last a day. It’s possible that people may need to plan to take a day off work or school after the second shot. While these experiences aren’t pleasant, they are a good sign: they are the result of your own immune system encountering the vaccine and mounting a potent response that will provide long-lasting immunity.

No. The vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer use a genetic molecule to prime the immune system. That molecule, known as mRNA, is eventually destroyed by the body. The mRNA is packaged in an oily bubble that can fuse to a cell, allowing the molecule to slip in. The cell uses the mRNA to make proteins from the coronavirus, which can stimulate the immune system. At any moment, each of our cells may contain hundreds of thousands of mRNA molecules, which they produce in order to make proteins of their own. Once those proteins are made, our cells then shred the mRNA with special enzymes. The mRNA molecules our cells make can only survive a matter of minutes. The mRNA in vaccines is engineered to withstand the cell’s enzymes a bit longer, so that the cells can make extra virus proteins and prompt a stronger immune response. But the mRNA can only last for a few days at most before they are destroyed.

In a statement, China’s foreign ministry cited its needs at home, where the coronavirus has re-emerged.

“Currently, China’s domestic vaccine demand is huge,” it said. “While meeting domestic demand, we are overcoming difficulties, thinking and trying ways to develop international vaccine cooperation with other countries, especially developing countries in different ways, and providing support and assistance according to their needs and within our capacity.”

The sporadic outbreaks could also hinder production. Sinovac, which declined to comment, said on Friday online that it was looking for workers for a Beijing-area facility where an outbreak had frightened off potential employees.

Countries like Turkey and Brazil are rolling out their immunization programs with a Sinovac vaccine because Western companies cannot deliver as quickly. But Brazil’s efforts have been delayed as well. Eduardo Pazuello, the country’s health minister, said China is not acting fast enough with the documents needed to export raw materials to Brazil.

“We are making strong moves at the diplomatic level to find where that resistance is and solve the problem,” Mr. Pazuello told a news conference last Sunday.

On Wednesday, Rodrigo Maia, Brazil’s speaker of the house, told reporters that he had met the Chinese ambassador to Brazil, who “made it clear that there is no political obstacle, that it was a technical process that was delayed a little.”

Other vaccines are beginning to fill the gap. Brazil’s health ministry announced on Thursday that a previously delayed shipment of two million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine would be arriving the next day from India.

The world was also caught off guard by the disclosure that the Sinovac vaccine may not be as effective as previously thought. Earlier, officials in Turkey said trials there showed the vaccine has a 91 percent efficacy rate. In Indonesia, it was 68 percent. In Brazil, researchers initially said its efficacy was 78 percent.

Then, on Jan. 12, scientists said it had an efficacy rate of just over 50 percent, once people who experienced mild symptoms were included. That level is a hair above the threshold set by the World Health Organization to consider a vaccine effective. In a news conference last week, Sinovac’s chief executive officer, Yin Weidong, reiterated that the vaccine is 100 percent effective in preventing severe cases. He said the lower efficacy rate was because the trial was focused on health care workers, who had a higher propensity of contracting Covid-19 than the general population.

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president and a critic of both China and its Covid-19 vaccines, pounced on the data. On Jan. 13, he mocked the vaccine’s efficacy rate, asking a supporter: “Is that 50 percent good?”

To be sure, the Chinese vaccines have a big appeal to many countries. More than 40 countries have expressed an interest in importing Chinese vaccines, according to China’s foreign ministry. Several world leaders, including President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, have gotten a Sinovac vaccine.

But the spotty and inconsistent disclosures about the vaccines remain a problem. In the case of Sinopharm, the company said a vaccine candidate made by its Beijing Institute of Biological Products arm had an efficacy rate of 79 percent, but it did not disclose crucial details. Sinopharm didn’t respond to a request for comment.

In Hong Kong, a special administration region of China that has ordered 7.5 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine, officials have not received an application for emergency distribution nor any data from the Chinese company.

“Whether it is because they are not making enough or if they have no plans to send the vaccines to Hong Kong yet, I don’t know,” said Dr. Lau Chak Sing, who heads a Hong Kong government advisory panel on Covid-19 vaccines.

Data disclosure has also been an issue in the Philippines, which has secured 25 million Sinovac vaccine doses. Risa Hontiveros, an opposition lawmaker, said President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration “continues to cram their preference for Chinese-made vaccines down the public’s throat, without emergency use approval and with inconsistent data.”

Leila de Lima, a senator and opposition leader who is in prison, expressed anger that the government is paying $61 a dose, more than double what Sinovac’s partner in Indonesia is paying. The presidential palace said that price was overstated but it couldn’t divulge the real ones because of a confidentiality agreement.

Despite the uncertainty, many people may have little choice.

“I’ll have my jab,” said Kayihan Pala, a member of the Turkey Medical Association’s Covid-19 monitoring board. “I am waiting my turn, because there is no other option.”

Letícia Casado, Tiffany May, Elsie Chen and Jason Gutierrez contributed reporting.

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Californian dies hours after getting COVID-19 vaccine, prompting probe

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A California resident who was vaccinated against COVID-19 died just hours later — and authorities are trying to find out why.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office announced the death and the investigation Saturday in a Facebook post, but gave few details.

The county, which is in the greater Sacramento area, was “recently notified” of the person’s death, the police said.

The person had tested positive for coronavirus in December and had been vaccinated just hours before their Jan. 21 death.

There was no indication which vaccine the person had been given.

“There are multiple local, state, and federal agencies actively investigating this case; any reports surrounding the cause of death are premature, pending the outcome of the investigation. Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased,” the sheriff’s office wrote.

An autopsy would be done Monday, the sheriff’s office told CBS’ Sacramento affiliate.

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Health

Studies of South African Coronavirus Strain Raise Concerns About Immune Response

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JOHANNESBURG—Three new laboratory studies are raising concerns that the immune response triggered by a Covid-19 infection or vaccination may be less effective at protecting against the new strain of the coronavirus that first emerged in South Africa.

The findings come from experiments done in the laboratory and only look at certain elements of a body’s immune response. Still, they reinforce the possibility that vaccine makers and regulators will need to update Covid-19 vaccines as the virus evolves.

A fourth study, conducted by scientists at BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc. and published by the companies, showed that their vaccine successfully neutralized a variant that was initially detected in the U.K. That study didn’t include the South African strain.

The U.K. variant has already spread to many other countries, including the U.S.

More than a year into the pandemic, the discovery of new variants that appear to have made the virus more contagious is forcing researchers to adapt their understanding of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. One concern, researchers said, is that the new strains are emerging in countries where a significant percentage of people have already built up an immune response to earlier variants after getting Covid-19.

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Hundreds receive vaccines at Prisma Health Greenville vaccination facility

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Gov. Henry McMaster said his administration is doing what it can to urge hospitals to speed up statewide administration of their COVID-19 vaccine supply after a visit to Greenville Thursday morning. “They get a first dose shipment one week and that same week they get a second dose shipment,” McMaster said of South Carolina hospitals. “Use them all up. Don’t keep any on the shelf. Get the people in as quickly as we can.” His message came as hundreds of Greenville County residents received their first doses of the vaccine at Prisma Health’s vaccination facility in Greenville at the old Kmart Thursday. Some people there said they never saw the parking lot so crowded. Lines grew into the afternoon, stretching outside along the front of the building. Right now, vaccinations are open to people age 70 and older. Prisma Health encourages appointments through VAMS. Gloria Duckett and her husband, of Greenville, scheduled their appointment for Thursday. They were done by the early afternoon. “I just thank God that my husband and I were able to get in and do it,” she said. “It ran smoothly. We were in and out in about 45 (minutes) to an hour and that wasn’t bad with all the people that are here,” she said. Prisma Health said if you’re having trouble registering, you can walk in to receive the vaccine without a scheduled appointment. That’s what Walt and Jean Miller did. Walt already received his vaccination, but he and Jean went together so she could have hers. They waited in line for about an hour Thursday morning. “We got through it pretty fast,” Walt said. “It was good. Everybody was pretty well staying separated and everybody wore their mask.” “I was trying to get it sooner to be closer to him and I did, so we’re fine,” Jean said. Prisma Health said it is maintaining social distancing and mask wearing for people while inside. People who went inside the building said chairs are also available to sit in while waiting. But outside, some people had concerns. “What I’m observing is that people seem to have totally forgotten about the separation,” said Dennis Anderson, of Greenville. “I’m looking at the large lines of people right close to each other, plus the huge number of people in the building. “There have to be affected people in that group,” he said. McMaster urged patience for all South Carolinians who haven’t yet been vaccinated. “I think that you’re gonna see some more progress in South Carolina, but eventually we need more vaccine and I’m confident that that’s coming, but probably won’t be until March or so,” he said. When asked, McMaster also said he doesn’t see any immediate major changes to vaccine distribution or supply with President Joe Biden’s administration.

GREENVILLE, S.C. —

Gov. Henry McMaster said his administration is doing what it can to urge hospitals to speed up statewide administration of their COVID-19 vaccine supply after a visit to Greenville Thursday morning.

“They get a first dose shipment one week and that same week they get a second dose shipment,” McMaster said of South Carolina hospitals. “Use them all up. Don’t keep any on the shelf. Get the people in as quickly as we can.”

His message came as hundreds of Greenville County residents received their first doses of the vaccine at Prisma Health’s vaccination facility in Greenville at the old Kmart Thursday.

Some people there said they never saw the parking lot so crowded.

Lines grew into the afternoon, stretching outside along the front of the building.

Right now, vaccinations are open to people age 70 and older. Prisma Health encourages appointments through VAMS.

Gloria Duckett and her husband, of Greenville, scheduled their appointment for Thursday. They were done by the early afternoon.

“I just thank God that my husband and I were able to get in and do it,” she said.

“It ran smoothly. We were in and out in about 45 (minutes) to an hour and that wasn’t bad with all the people that are here,” she said.

Prisma Health said if you’re having trouble registering, you can walk in to receive the vaccine without a scheduled appointment.

That’s what Walt and Jean Miller did.

Walt already received his vaccination, but he and Jean went together so she could have hers.

They waited in line for about an hour Thursday morning.

“We got through it pretty fast,” Walt said.

“It was good. Everybody was pretty well staying separated and everybody wore their mask.”

“I was trying to get it sooner to be closer to him and I did, so we’re fine,” Jean said.

Prisma Health said it is maintaining social distancing and mask wearing for people while inside.

People who went inside the building said chairs are also available to sit in while waiting.

But outside, some people had concerns.

“What I’m observing is that people seem to have totally forgotten about the separation,” said Dennis Anderson, of Greenville. “I’m looking at the large lines of people right close to each other, plus the huge number of people in the building.

“There have to be affected people in that group,” he said.

McMaster urged patience for all South Carolinians who haven’t yet been vaccinated.

“I think that you’re gonna see some more progress in South Carolina, but eventually we need more vaccine and I’m confident that that’s coming, but probably won’t be until March or so,” he said.

When asked, McMaster also said he doesn’t see any immediate major changes to vaccine distribution or supply with President Joe Biden’s administration.

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Emerging evidence suggests new coronavirus variant could be problematic for vaccines

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The variant was first spotted in South Africa in October and has now been found in more than a dozen countries.

In both studies, the work was done in the lab and not in people, so more research is needed to gauge the true threat of the new variant.

In the most recent study, which was small, researchers took antibodies from six people who were hospitalized with Covid-19 before the new variant was discovered. They found to varying degrees, that antibodies for all six of the survivors were unable to fully fight off the virus.

“I think the evidence is building that these mutations — and I think other mutations — will emerge across the globe — and are emerging already — that are escaping antibodies from previous infection,” Alex Sigal, a virologist at the Africa Health Research Institute and the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, told CNN. “It’s concerning.”

It’s unclear whether this means someone would be vulnerable to the new variant if they’d already had Covid-19, or what this might mean for people who’ve been vaccinated.

Sigal’s findings were very similar to those of a study released Tuesday by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa.

“When you see two groups independently arriving at same basic answer, that good — there’s more consonance that they are correct,” said Jesse Bloom, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

A third study, also released Tuesday, showed that mutations in the new variant allowed them to evade some of the immunity induced by vaccination, but it was far from a complete escape.

That study looked at far fewer mutations in the variant than the South African studies examined.

None of the studies were peer reviewed or published in medical journals.

While scientists work out whether these variants are particularly dangerous — and studies are underway in several labs worldwide — one thing is clear: Get the vaccine if you can.

“I would for sure get it if I could,” Sigal said. “My father-in-law had the opportunity to fly to Israel and get it, and I was shooing him out of the house because you can’t get it here in South Africa.”

A trio of studies

In his research, Sigal found that antibodies from all six study subjects failed to fully fight off the new variant.

“One participant had a fairly good response, but nobody escaped unscathed,” he said.

The study was posted on the website for KRISP, the Kwazulu-Natal Research Innnovation and Sequencing Platform. The other two studies were posted on a pre-print server.

In the study that had similar findings, blood was drawn from 44 people in South Africa who’d had Covid-19. Nearly all of their cases were confirmed to have occurred prior to September, which is before the variant was spotted in South Africa.

The researchers then looked to see whether their antibodies would fight off the new variant.

For about half of the 44 people, their antibodies were powerless against the new variant. For the other half, the antibody response was weakened, but not totally knocked out.

In the third study, done at Rockefeller University, researchers looked at blood from 20 people who had received either the Moderna or the Pfizer vaccine. Different mutations in the viruses did allow some escape from some types of antibodies, but the volunteers’ immune systems threw an army of different types of antibodies at the viruses.

The Rockefeller study looked at fewer mutations than the two South African studies. It looked at three key mutations on the spikes that sit atop the coronavirus, since that’s the part of the virus targeted by the vaccines.

“That’s useful, but still not the complete story,” said John Moore, a vaccine researcher at Weill Cornell Medicine.

The South African studies, however, used the virus itself, or a model of it, which contained eight spike mutations.

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COVID-19 vaccines won’t be ‘in every pharmacy’ by late Feb., CDC director predicts

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The Biden administration is aiming to vaccinate 100 million people in 100 days, but the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that it won’t necessarily mean calling up the local pharmacy to schedule your COVID-19 shot in the coming weeks, as was once predicted by former Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

“You know as we talk with the manufacturers and we think about the supply and eligibility, we are going to as part of our plan put the vaccine in pharmacies,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky told TODAY on Thursday. “Will it be in every pharmacy in the country by that timeline I don’t think so. As I said early on I’m going to tell you the truth here – I don’t think late February we’re going to have vaccine in every pharmacy in this country.”

Walensky said that her team has been meeting daily for some time to discuss plans that include mobile units to get vaccines to rural areas of the country, setting up community distribution centers and ensuring that there are enough available vaccinators to meet the demand.

She had previously vowed that the Biden administration would work through manufacturing bottleneck issues including invoking the Defense Production Act to ramp up supply, but a number of states are already experiencing shortages forcing thousands of canceled appointments.

STATES REPORT COVID-19 VACCINE SHORTAGES AND CANCEL APPOINTMENTS

Other mishaps due to storage temperature issues or overestimating dosage needs have resulted in wasted supply. As of Wednesday morning, the CDC reported that nearly 36 million doses had been distributed, but only 16.5 million had been administered. Previously, health officials have said the gap could be due to a lack in state reporting mixed with other shortcomings on a local level.

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo who has received flak for his state’s lagging rollout and his initial refusal to expand the distribution eligibility is now warning that the state will exhaust its supply by the end of the week.

“What’s clear now is we’ll be going from week to week, and you will see a constant pattern of basically running out, waiting for the next week’s allocation, and starting up again,” he said.

WHY DID AMAZON WAIT UNTIL BIDEN’S INAUGURATION TO HELP WITH VACCINE DISTRIBUTION?

New York City Mayor De Blasio said as many as 23,000 people had their appointments canceled due to supply shortages, and the New York Police Department suspended first-shot vaccinations for its officers.

Elsewhere, governors blamed the Trump administration for promising to release federal supply that had already been used after it advised states to expand distribution to include people ages 65 and older.

In Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown said distribution efforts would have to be scaled back as the state waits for additional supply. Her plan now includes a 12-week rollout to reach seniors over 65 to begin in February, and a dialed down effort for other groups. 

Walensky said the potential to have a third vaccine manufacturer come online would also help address supply issues, as is the hope with Johnson & Johnson.

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“We said 100 million doses in the first 100 days and we’re going to stick to that plan,” Walensky said. “But I also want to be very cognizant of the fact that after 100 days there are still a lot of Americans who need vaccine. So we have our pedal to the metal to make sure we can get as much vaccine out there. As has been noted before we are hoping to have more data from another manufacturer from the J&J vaccine. The more vaccines we have out there that have FDA authorization the better shape we’ll be.”

 The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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