The flow of vaccines to the States will increase next week; says, President Biden. The US is about to close a deal to vaccinate almost the entire country.
The US President Joe Biden is under intense pressure to speed up vaccines’ flow to the States. He said, on 26th January, that his administration is about to enter a deal. It would vaccinate 30000000000 US citizens towards the end of this summer. From next week, the supply of shots to the States will rise up to 16%. This fulfills the US Governors’ long-time demand; certainty over the supply of vaccines to the States. According to him, governments will be notified on the doses of vaccines three weeks prior to their arrival. Until now, governors had to speculate on how many doses of vaccines they will receive next week. This is unacceptable, he added.
President Biden To Speed Up The Flow Of Vaccines To The States
This, according to experts, is not a possible scenario. Vaccine manufacturers are ramping up their production. And as per the contract signed by the Trump’s administration, the government had the option to continue increasing the doses of vaccines as installments of 1000000. Even then, experts opine that the administration was prudent enough to amass as many doses of vaccines as possible. Till now, the government has only 2000000 doses of federally approved vaccines. The number of eligible adults, however, is 260 million.
Governors welcomed the news with caution. According to Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, each governor has to overcome the same issue; the doses of vaccines available are a tiny portion of what the US citizens badly need. At the same time, the governor appreciated Biden’s Administration for promising a higher number. Still, America needs a lot more, she adds.
The announcement comes in the wake of the State Department’s advisory and from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to all Americans to reconsider traveling abroad. The advice asked them to consider the travel restrictions that came into effect on Tuesday. The rules mandate a negative coronavirus report or proof of recovery from the disease before boarding a flight to the US. Ian G. Brownlee, the acting assistant secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of consular affairs, too has a serious warning for the citizens. If they contract coronavirus from abroad, they have to bear the extra cost of lodging and other things when returning home. All travelers, according to him, should prepare a plan B. If possible, people should consider postponing their trips abroad as much as possible.
Biden administration is just one week old. However, his journey ahead is fraught with challenges. The task of the speedy rollout of vaccines has not been that easy. And the entire country is frustrated with it. Many people had to cancel their vaccination appointments due to the scarcity of the shots. Combine it with the emerging new variants of the virus. The speedy distribution of vaccines is now the need of the hour.
America’s race is not against the new variants of coronavirus. They are the winners already; warns Michael T. Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. If this trend continues, he thinks it will come and be over by April. That is going to be the worst time; he adds.
Experts also warn that the Americans won’t allow their President a long honeymoon. On Tuesday, he tried to blame his predecessor for the shortage of vaccines. Fingers will be pointed at President if he fails to make any progress in the effort. They even feel that it is not easy to enhance the production of the two vaccines licensed for emergency use due to a lack of manufacturing capabilities.