State reports vaccine shortage and cancels booking | National

“It’s stressful because I was so intimate, and my other friend, a teacher, was able to book an appointment last Saturday,” said Stachowiack. “There are so many people involved that it’s like,” No, I have to wait. ” “

The reason for the apparent discrepancy between US supply and demand was unclear, but last week the Department of Health and Human Services suggested that the state had unrealistic expectations about vaccine levels. In any case, there are new shipments every week, and both governments and pharmaceutical companies say they have a lot in their pipeline.

As the state directs government to dramatically increase immunization momentum to reach people over the age of 65 and other groups that may be essential or at high risk, such as teachers and police officers. , There is a shortage. More than 400,000 people in the United States are blamed for the virus.

President Joe Biden, who took office on Wednesday, was pressured to resolve the issue immediately. He revealed that the federal government under his control would take stronger steps to speed up the vaccination drive, and he vowed to manage 100 million shots in the first 100 days.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than half of the 36 million doses distributed to the state by the federal government have been administered so far. Public health officials say the gap may reflect delays in records management, as well as confusion and other shortcomings at various levels of government in the actual shooting.

In a statement, HHS said the jurisdiction actually increased vaccine allocations by about 5% this week, compared to what it had gained in the last two weeks. That’s because the government has stopped the practice of holding large amounts of vaccines in reserve as a hedge against production delays that could prevent people from getting a second shot on time.

Countries across Europe are also having trouble getting enough doses to provide protection against viruses emerging in newer, more contagious variants around the world.

Pfizer said last week that it would temporarily reduce vaccine deliveries to Europe and Canada while upgrading the capacity of its Belgian plant to supply all shots delivered outside the United States. Pfizer’s main base for manufacturing vaccines for the United States is in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

In the United States, some states have suggested that the vaccine may run out by Thursday, and it is unclear when new doses will arrive.

Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City said Wednesday that due to supply shortages, 23,000 people waiting for their first dose this week had to cancel their reservations. The mayor, who has been warning about vaccine shortages for days, said the situation was exacerbated by the delay in delivery of the moderna vaccine to the city this week.

“So we were already under the stress of vaccine deficiency,” he said. “Now the situation is getting worse.”

The New York City police station has suspended the initial vaccination of police officers due to a state-wide shortage.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that he hopes the state will run out of vaccine supplies to those waiting for the first dose within a few days.

“What’s clear now is that we go weekly, and we’ll see a certain pattern of basically running out, waiting for this week’s quota, and then restarting,” he said. .. He urged medical facilities not to plan to dispense vaccines that have not yet been assigned.

In Florida, local media reported a similar issue in the Miami area. There, the Baptist Healthcare System canceled the appointment for the first dose.

“I could have steamed the top of my head,” 76-year-old Charlotte Reeve told the Miami Herald. “I’m also a widow quite recently. For me, having to be trapped alone in my house is just devastating to me …. I feel like I’ve just been cut off at my knee.”

The San Francisco Department of Health said the vaccine was likely to run out on Thursday. This is because the state withdrew the batch of Modernashot after some healthcare workers responded badly. The county health department received 12,000 doses last week, but less than 2,000 this week.

In a statement, Moderna said it plans to administer 100 million doses by the end of the first quarter of this year and 200 million doses by the end of the second quarter.

Pfizer, another manufacturer of vaccines used in the United States, said it had properly met government orders over the past two weeks. We are working 24 hours a day to increase the dose by millions of doses daily, and we predict that it will be okay to promise 200 million doses by the end of July.

West Virginia says it has used one of the country’s fastest vaccination drives, partly using a small town pharmacy, and hasn’t seen any expected dose increases this week. I will. Authorities are urging the government to send more, as 99.6% of the initial dose on hand has already been administered.

Republican governor Jim Justice said he was “not vaccinated here,” and is worried that unused doses remain in other states. “We have them all in people’s arms and did exactly what we should do … I think performance should be rewarded.”

He said the state had not received the promised 25,000 additional doses this week, in addition to the usual weekly quota of about 23,000.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has appealed to the new Biden administration for additional coronavirus vaccines as the state suffers from high hospitalizations and more than 10,000 deaths.

“We don’t lack infrastructure,” DeWine said in a letter. “We are short of vaccines.”

Hawaiian leaders complained that the state received 59,000 doses last week, but only expects about 32,000 this week.

In New York, a 72-year-old retiree from Buffalo, Barbara Carr, was upset when his vaccine reservation was canceled on Thursday. However, she was soon able to make another appointment at a local pharmacy and received her first dose on Tuesday.

Now she is worried about her two children who are teachers. Their appointment has been cancelled.

“They couldn’t change schedules, make phone calls, or communicate other than” you were canceled, “” Kerr said. “Poor teachers … I can stay home so I can hide from the virus. They can’t.”

Hill reported from Albany, NY.