CDC: COVID-19 Vaccine Still Unavailable to Public [Video]

• New CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said that it is still unlikely for the COVID-19 vaccine to be publicly available for the next few months.
• Walensky said that their current focus is to vaccinate all eligible people and then expand that eligibility to include more people.
• She added that they’re enlisting more locations to serve as vaccination centers.

Public availability for the COVID-19 vaccine is still unlikely for the next few months, as confirmed by the new director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The vaccine was previously expected to be available to the general public by the end of February or early March, as former Trump administration health secretary Alex Azar told Today in December.

However, new CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Friday that there will be a delay due to issues with COVID-19 vaccine distribution and availability.

Walensky told Today, “I don’t think late February we’re going to have vaccine in every pharmacy in this country.”

She noted that President Joe Biden’s plan to administer 100 million doses in his first 100 days as president is still on track.

She pointed out, however, 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.”

With extremely high demand, the new Biden administration is faced with the struggle to vaccinate the country and help end the COVID-19 pandemic.

Millions of Americans are trying to sign up for vaccination, but the supply of doses is still low. In New York, 97% of its first doses have already been given out by Friday, with the rest being withheld to ensure second doses.

Walensky said, “We recognize this as the most immediate emergency to get this country back to health.”

She added that their current focus is to ensure that the number of available vaccines is more than enough for eligible people, and to “expand our eligibility so it fits with the vaccine supply.”

Walensky said, “Right now I think we still have vaccine on the shelves that we need to get into people,” so they’re looking into other locations and mobile units to serve as vaccination centers.

She added that they also need to overcome vaccine hesitancy. She explained that some people look for convenience, some want to wait how it affects others first, and others need “enough leeway to be able to take the day off if they’re feeling unwell the next day.”

“Some of it is education,” she continued. “And we need to bring that science to them by their trusted people.”

The CDC reported that around 16,243,093 people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine as of Jan. 22. The second dose, which brings the vaccine protection up to around 95%, will be administered for three or four weeks after the first dose.

Only around 2,756,953 Americans have received both doses.

Source: People