The icy blast across much of the U.S. added more confusion and frustration to the country’s COVID-19 vaccination drive on Wednesday, just as it got up to speed, vaccine delivery growls and the cancellation of countless shots across the country forced.
Across much of the nation, including deep Southern states like Georgia and Alabama, the snowy, slippery weather has resulted in vaccination sites being closed or withheld shipments, with delays expected to last for days.
In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said doses expected this week were delayed by weather elsewhere in the country, forcing the city to delay 30,000 to 35,000 vaccination appointments.
A public health expert said the delays were unacceptable.
“If vaccine centers take up snowy days, the case will only get more support than they already are,” says Dr. Amesh Adalja, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “The virus doesn’t need snowy days.”
Adalja said people responsible for vaccination efforts need to find ways to be more resilient to the weather, “just as postmen can deliver mail through ice or snow.” He suggested that clinics use better contingency plans. The goal, he said, should be “a continuous assembly line of vaccines going into people’s arms.”
Jo Dohogne of Bartlett, Tennessee, said she had two appointments scheduled this week to receive her second dose of the Moderna vaccine, but both were canceled due to bad weather.
Dohogne, 75, who has multiple sclerosis, said she felt abandoned as the six weeks approached for her second dose following her first vaccination on Jan. 14.
“I’m just stressed … it’s like this is taking up my whole life,” said Dohogne.
After her vaccine appointment was canceled on Saturday, Dohogne said a friend of a neighbor helped her navigate the vaccine sign-up process. But without saying when she can get her second shot, Dohogne said she’s “just frustrated and stressed”.
In Washington, COVID-19 White House coordinator Jeff Zients said that in places where vaccination centers have closed, such as Texas, the government is encouraging sites to extend their hours of operation once they open.
“We want to make sure that since we have lost some time in some states for people to get needles into weapons, that our partners are doing everything they can to make up for that lost ground,” he said.
Some shipments of Pfizer’s vaccine were delayed in the south due to bad weather, but the company was not aware of any vaccine spoilage, spokesman Eamonn Nolan said. Pfizer’s vaccines, which must be kept frozen at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 34.4 degrees Celsius), are shipped with dry ice in temperature-controlled containers that can remain unopened for up to 10 days.
In southern Nevada, officials reported that winter storms had delayed a shipment of Moderna vaccines to be delivered as a second dose this week.
The US vaccinates an average of 1.7 million Americans a day against COVID-19, up from less than 1 million a month ago. New White House figures show a steady increase in the rate of vaccinations from President Joe Biden’s first month in office.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, much of the increase comes from people getting their second dose. The rate of first-dose vaccinations has remained largely stable over the past few weeks, averaging 900,000 shots per day.
Biden is on track to overshoot his goal of 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office – though the pace needs to pick up even further to meet his plans to vaccinate nearly all adults by the end of the summer.
The White House also said the government will speed up genetic analysis of coronavirus samples from around the country to gain information about where more contagious and potentially deadly mutations could spread.
Despite frustrating delays, some people showed remarkable persistence. Fran Goldman, 90, from Seattle, told The Seattle Times that she walked 6 miles round trip in the snow to get her vaccine.
Goldman said she finally got a spot for Sunday morning after a lot of effort, but a strong storm blew through on Friday and Saturday, filling streets with snowdrifts.
Goldman dressed in fleece pants and tossed a few warm layers over a short-sleeved shirt so the nurse could easily reach her arm.
“It was not easy. It was challenging, ”she said. She arrived at her appointment, just five minutes late.
In other developments, Pennsylvania is facing a temporary shortage of second shots of the Moderna vaccine after providers accidentally use them as first doses. More than 100,000 people may have to reschedule their appointments.
Noveck reported from New York and Naishadham reported from Phoenix. Medical writer Linda A. Johnson contributed from Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, Jeff Martin from Atlanta and Michelle R. Smith from Providence, RI