As the number of cases decreases, the promotion of US pharmacy vaccines will begin.

The US Covid vaccination drive entered a new phase on Thursday as thousands of pharmacies scheduled shots, but the optimistic waves brought about by the fall incident were soon tested by dangerous variants. There is a possibility that

President Joe Biden’s administration has shipped millions of doses to about 6,500 drugstores and supermarket pharmacies nationwide, and several chains have announced that they will begin making their first shots on Friday.

The US vaccination campaign got off to a volatile start in December, but has since improved. Currently, 44.8 million shots have reached the weapons and at least 33.7 million have received one or more doses, equivalent to about 10% of the population.

The pharmacy program eventually expanded to 40,000 stores, while the federal government also launched using emergency legislation. Vaccine manufacturing, Opened a mass vaccine site in the stadium and launched another program to reach a poorly serviced community.

“Looking at the forecasts, we need to better describe the word“ open season ”by April. That means virtually everyone and people in all categories can start getting vaccinated, “said Presidential Chief Anthony Fauci. A pandemic adviser told NBC.

A few more months later, he added, the overwhelming majority of people will be vaccinated “in the middle and end of summer.”

After peaking on the next January 8th Consecutive holiday seasonThe number of outbreaks in the United States is declining sharply, averaging over 100,000 per day, down from more than 300,000.

Hospitalizations and deaths continue, but the world’s most devastated countries are expected to reach the latest tough milestone, with 500,000 deaths later this month.

In addition, the fragmented health care system in the United States continues to cause widespread confusion among the general public about where and when to get vaccinated.

Severe racial and economic disparities are also emerging. In the capital, Washington, vaccines are disproportionately assigned to residents of the city’s wealthy white district, where people can register faster by phone or online.

Vaccine hesitation is also significantly higher among blacks and Latinos, who can already double in Covid-19 due to their experience of structural racism. Medical system..

Fear of rebound

It is believed that between the number of people already vaccinated and the number of people already infected, about 40% of the population may have some degree of immunity, which is also a slowdown in new cases. It is one of the causes.

But while the numbers are heading in the right direction, experts warn that it’s not time to be complacent.

The winter surge was exacerbated by people gathered during Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year holidays. If these patterns repeat in the Super Bowl last Sunday, we can expect a surge.

The first highly contagious B.1.1.7 mutant identified in the United Kingdom will spread rapidly in the United States and will become the predominant strain by March, according to studies.

This has the potential to reverse current progress. For example, in Ireland, which had suppressed its outbreak by the second half of 2020, it was hit by an exponential wave caused by B.1.1.7 in January and is now recovering. ..

Covid-19 can occur when the amount of this variant is low, so attention is shifting to better masking techniques.

On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wears a cloth mask over the medical mask or ties the medical mask into a tighter fit and pushes it in to significantly improve protection against Covid-19 capture or spread. I confirmed that I would do it.

The competition to deploy vaccines is becoming increasingly urgent with the first identified variants in South Africa and Brazil. These variants have been shown to weaken the potency of current shots and cause reinfection in people who previously had the classic Covid strain.

Experts warn that the longer the virus circulates, the more adaptable it is.

© 2021 AFP