Since the vaccination program for COVID19 has started in the US, only 2.6 million people have been inoculated so far. It seems that the US will not be able to reach its target of vaccinating 20 million people this month as the vaccination drive is going into its last days of December. As per the report, around 14 million doses of Pfizer and BioNtech have been allocated to states in the US so far. Although the officials have been saying that they will have around 40 million doses accessible in December, which will be enough to vaccinate around 20 million people with two doses of the vaccine. The FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn has said that vaccinating 20 million people has been a realistic target but it depends on the vaccine campaign. Now, officials have said that they are trying to make enough doses of the vaccine available but have refrained themselves from commenting on the target as it has become evident that they are falling short of the supply of the vaccine doses.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has said that after 18 days of granting the emergency use authorization to the vaccine, around 20 million first doses have been allocated, which shows that Operation Warp Speed has been a success. The officials from HHS have said that doses, which have been allocated but not distributed, will be shipped in January. They have said that they are keeping a second dose and a safety stock in reserve for every dose shipped. The total number of doses will be close to 40 million. The data released from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shown that though the number of doses used has reached the goal of 20 million, however, the speed of the actual vaccination has been far slower. Donald Trump has said that the doses have been sent to the states, now it is their responsibility to administer it and get it moving.
Local Public Health officials have said that the lack of funding for vaccine distribution has refrained them from hiring the required staff for the vaccination drive. Chief Advisor of Operation Warp Speed has said that they are working hard to make the vaccination program a success. The vaccination of around 21 million healthcare workers has started on December 14. After that, the inoculation of 3 million nursing home residents as well has followed the suit. As per the Advisory Panel of the CDC, police personnel, firefighters, and frontline essential workers are next in line to receive the vaccine in the US.
