NEW YORK (AP) – Pressure to inoculate Americans against the coronavirus is reaching a roadblock: a number of states are reporting that the vaccine is running low, and tens of thousands of people who have scheduled a first dose appointment see them canceled.
Karen Stachowiak, a first-class teacher in the Buffalo area, spent nearly five hours on the state hotline and website booking an appointment for Wednesday, but was told it had been canceled. The Erie County Health Department said it has scratched more than 8,000 people in recent days due to insufficient supply.
“It’s stressful because I was so close. And my other friends who are teachers were able to make appointments for last Saturday, ”said Stachowiak. “So many people get theirs in, and it’s like, ‘No, I have to wait.'”
The reason for the apparent mismatch between supply and demand in the US was unclear, but last week the Health and Human Services Department suggested states had unrealistic expectations of how much vaccine was on the way.
In any case, new shipments are going out every week, and both the government and drug manufacturers have said there are large quantities in the pipeline.
The shortages are coming as states are drastically ramping up their vaccination efforts, at the direction of the federal government, to reach people 65 and older, along with certain others. More than 400,000 deaths in the US are due to the virus.
President Joe Biden, inaugurated on Wednesday, immediately came under pressure to fix things. He has made it clear that his government will take a stronger hand in attacking the crisis, and pledged to deliver 100 million shots in his first 100 days.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than half of the 36 million doses dispensed to states by the federal government have been administered so far. Public health officials have said the gap could be due to delays in record-keeping, as well as disorder and other shortcomings at various levels of government to actually get fired up.
In a statement, HHS said jurisdictions received about 5% more vaccinations this week than what they have received in recent weeks.
Countries in Europe are also having problems get enough doses to protect against a virus that is now emerging in new, more contagious variants around the world.
Pfizer said last week it would temporarily reduce deliveries to Europe and Canada, while increasing the capacity of its factory in Belgium, which supplies all shots shipped outside of the United States. Pfizer’s primary vaccine manufacturing site for the US is in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
In the US, some states have suggested they will run out by Thursday, and it’s unclear when new doses will come.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Wednesday that the city had to cancel 23,000 appointments for people waiting for their first dose this week. New York police have suspended initial vaccinations for its agents.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he expects the state to use up its supply of vaccine within two or three days for people who want their first dose.
“What is clear now is that we are going from week to week, and you will see a constant pattern of basically running out, waiting for the next week’s allotment and starting over,” he said. He urged health care facilities not to make arrangements to provide the vaccine they have not yet received.
In Florida, local media reported a similar problem in the Miami area, where the Baptist Health care system canceled first-dose appointments.
“I could have blown my head off with steam,” Charlotte Reeve, 76, told The Miami Herald. “I am also a fairly recent widow. I just hate being locked up alone in my house. … I feel like I’ve been cut off to my knees again. “
The San Francisco health department said it will likely be without a vaccine on Thursday, in part because the state pulled out of administering a batch of Moderna injections after several health workers suffered from what may have been a bad reaction. The county’s health department received 12,000 doses last week, but less than 2,000 this week.
In a statement, Moderna said it is on track to deliver 100 million doses by the end of the first quarter of the year and 200 million doses by the end of the second quarter.
Pfizer, the maker of the other vaccine used in the US, said it has been properly carrying out government orders for the past two weeks. It said it works around the clock to produce millions of additional doses every day and does not expect any trouble in delivering on its promise of delivering 200 million by the end of July.
West Virginia, which has conducted one of the fastest vaccination trips in the country, said it did not get an expected increase in doses this week. With 99.6% of the first doses already available, officials are pushing for more.
“We don’t have any vaccines here,” said Republican Government Jim Justice, concerned that other states have unused doses. ‘We have them all in people’s arms and we have done exactly what we should have done. … I think performance should be rewarded. “
Ohio government Mike DeWine argued for more doses to the new Biden administration as the state grapples with high hospital admissions and a death toll that has exceeded 10,000.
“We don’t lack the infrastructure,” DeWine said in a letter. “We miss the vaccine.”
Hawaii leaders complained that the state received 59,000 doses last week, but is only expecting about 32,000 this week.
In New York State, Barbara Carr, a 72-year-old pensioner in Buffalo, was distraught when her Thursday vaccination appointment was canceled. But she was soon able to get another appointment at a pharmacy and got her first dose.
Now she is concerned about her two children, who are teachers. Their appointments were canceled.
“They’ve had no luck with rescheduling, no phone calls, no communication whatsoever other than,” You’ve been canceled, “Carr said.” The poor teachers … I can stay home so I can hide from the virus. They can’t. “
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Hill reported from Albany, New York.