One American dies of Covid-19 every 33 seconds when vaccine deployment hits a problem

While hoping for vaccination 20 million people were scattered by New Year’s DayThe United States is currently facing a phenomenal new challenge in the fight against Covid-19.

According to Johns Hopkins University, an average of 2,637 coronaviruses die daily in the United States over the past week.

This is an average of one Covid-19 death every 33 seconds.

December was actually the worst month of the pandemic, killing 77,572 people.

And as new infections and hospitalizations increase, deaths can accelerate.

On Sunday, more people were hospitalized with Covid-19 in this pandemic than any other day — according to 125,544. Covid tracking project..

U.S. average 213,437 new infections daily According to health experts, the past week has been largely supported by holiday gatherings.

That number will probably continue to grow, as the Transportation Security Administration said it screened more than 1.3 million travelers on Sunday-a new record for this pandemic.

According to the Covid Tracking Project, new daily infections have surged 16% in the past week, while tests have actually decreased by 11.65% in the past week.

Doctors are now worried that the Covid-19 epidemic will cause more hospitals to exceed their capacity and cause more deaths as vaccine deployments stagger.

Possibility to give half dose of vaccine

is more than 4.2 million people I received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine.But it is Much behind what the authorities have ever wanted..And that means Herd immunity It’s still months away.

To facilitate vaccination, the United States may begin giving half the dose of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine to people between the ages of 18 and 55. This could make the vaccine available to twice as many people in that age group. Federal Warp Speed ​​Operation Vaccination Initiatives.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will meet this week to consider the possibility, Slawi said.

The decision to halve the current dose of 100 micrograms and halve it after 28 days is ultimately left to the FDA, Slawi said, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay. I told Dr. Gupta.

The binding and neutralizing antibody response was similar among participants under the age of 55 who received doses of 100 micrograms or 50 micrograms, Slaoui said, citing previous data.

Last month’s FDA briefing document also mentioned these “comparable” immune responses from Moderna’s study, but the full data have not yet been published.

“I don’t know if this applies to Pfizer,” Slawi said, with a vaccine dose of 30 micrograms, and said the conversation hadn’t taken place yet. Like the Moderna vaccine, the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine is intended to be given twice every few weeks.

CNN is asking Moderna and Pfizer for comment.

Not everyone likes the idea of ​​halving the dose of vaccine.

“I disagree with that idea,” said Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine at George Washington University.

“About 13 million doses were shipped to the state and only 4 million were armed. Therefore, the bottleneck is not a lack of vaccine availability. The bottleneck is actually in this country. Logistics for vaccination of people. “

Enrolling some patients in vaccination is difficult enough, He said. Violation of the recommended dose can hurt the patient’s self-confidence.

“When I meet people at the clinic, I talk about vaccines every day. I’m trying to reduce vaccine hesitation,” Reiner said on Monday.

“And the strongest weapon I have is the data. This double vaccination strategy shows that these two vaccines are being studied in 70,000 people (more than 70,000 people), and given that way. When they are both, they are both 95% effective, and basically no one gets seriously ill with this vaccine …. away from the data, that’s not the case. “

Ideas for speeding up vaccination

It is important to get the vaccine in people’s arms immediately, especially as a highly contagious strain First detected in the United Kingdom and now spreading in the United StatesSaid former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb.

“New variants of the virus, which appear to be more contagious, increase the urgency of deploying the vaccine as soon as possible,” Gottlieb wrote. Wall Street Journal Editorial Published on Sunday.

He proposed three ideas for speeding up Covid-19 vaccination across the United States.

“First, the government needs to ship more inventories,” Gottlieb wrote. “Currently, the federal government is controlling up to 55% of the dose. The idea is that Pfizer has a supply within 3 weeks and Moderna within 4 weeks to give everyone a second dose. Is to confirm that.

“Second, the distribution system needs improvement,” he said. “National pharmacy chains like CVS and Walgreens have agreed with the federal government to provide vaccines to long-term care facilities. The government is expanding this program to help immunize all Americans. need to do it.”

Third, Gottlieb writes: If your stockpile continues to grow, you will need to expand your qualifications. “

“Rough start until 2021”

On Sunday, five states, Arizona, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Washington, reported the most new infections to date in a single day.

And in the past week, the average positive test rate for at least five states has exceeded 40%. In other words, more than 40% of people who have been tested for Covid-19 have a positive result.

These states include Idaho (57%), Alabama (46.7%), Iowa (44.6%), Pennsylvania (44%), and South Dakota (43.8%).As a prospect, WHO recommends that the government not resume Until the test positive rate stays below 5% 14 days.

In South Carolina, which showed a positive test rate of 29.6% on Sunday, officials in four counties said the hospital had 100% capacity, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environment.

“We’re off to a rough start until 2021,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, World Health Organization’s technical lead for Covid-19.

However, she said that everyday life in the United States could approach normal by summer or autumn. Other countries are already on track, thanks to quarantine, testing, quarantine and contact tracking.

“I’ve seen countries kneel down the virus without vaccination,” said Wankelhove. “Currently, I have the tools to actually control this virus.”

Hospitalization with Covid-19 also affects other families

Covid-19’s massive surge Shortage of medical staff,insufficient Hospital space, Postponement of surgery Reduced care for some patients..

Even families who do not have the coronavirus are feeling the impact.

General Jerome Adams, a US surgeon, said his wife, Lacy, was hospitalized for complications of cancer treatment. But he couldn’t meet her because of Covid-19.

“I want people to understand that if you don’t take precautions against Covid to avoid danger, it can affect you, your family, and your community in many other ways. “Adams said.

“As President of the Surgeon in the United States, I had to drop my wife down to the front door, I couldn’t see her enter the hospital, I couldn’t visit her, and whether she was. I didn’t know. I’m planning to have a hospital bed for all Covid precautions. “

Adams urged Americans, especially those who gathered on vacation, to self-quarantine, be inspected, wear masks, wash their hands, and monitor distances.

“The predictions are pretty scary, but they are predictions, and what we do now is important,” Adams said.

“I want people to understand that things will start to get better if we overcome this current surge, but it depends on what we are all doing now.”