A new NBC News analysis shows that the current COVID-19 vaccination distribution would take ten years to keep the pandemic under control.
What We Know:
- Operation Warp Speed, led by Vice President Mike Pence, aims to produce and deliver safe coronavirus vaccines to the public. The goal is 80% of the country vaccinated by late June. More than 3 million people would need to get vaccinated each day to reach this goal.
- Only 2 million people have received their first dose of the vaccine. Front-line health care workers and nursing home residents are the majority that has received the vaccine so far. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration under President Donald Trump and Pfizer board member, commented on distributing the vaccine. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to distribute the 20 million doses that were promised.”
- Gottlieb explained that distribution happened later than expected, using Georiga as an example. “Georgia, for example, just started vaccinating nursing homes yesterday, and the vaccine has been on the market, right now — been authorized for almost three weeks,” Gottlieb said. “So we’re late getting into some of these facilities.”
- Gottlieb believes that after the first shot, America will see an impact on vulnerable populations. Additionally, he added that after the first dose of the vaccine, the person is partially protected.
- President-elect Joe Biden criticized the Trump administration for their handling of the vaccines. “We are grateful to the companies, doctors, scientists, researchers and clinical trial participants and Operation Warp Speed for developing the vaccines quickly,” he said. “But as I long feared and warned, the effort to distribute and administer the vaccine. Pence, who received his first dose this month, reassured that “there is an expected lag between shots going into arms and the data being reported.”
- In September, President Trump promised that 100 million doses of the vaccine would be shipped out by the year’s end. Dr. Moncef Slaoui, Operation Warp Speed’s top scientist, cut the doses to 20 million this month. Dr. Anthony Fauci also commented on the lack of vaccines, “Well, we certainly are not at the numbers that we wanted to be at the end of December.”
Despite not reaching 20 million vaccines by the end of the year, more people are getting vaccinated every day. As more vaccines are distributed, impacts on communities are to be expected.
