US Coronavirus: Widespread vaccinations in the US won’t take place until the summer. This is what has caused the Covid-19 cases so far

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“That’s what we do well: stay apart, wear masks, don’t travel, don’t interact with others indoors,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Sunday.

The numbers of Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations are now falling nationwide after a series of devastating spikes that followed the holidays. But that doesn’t mean the US is clear.

“We’ve had three peaks,” Frieden added. “ Whether or not we have a fourth rise is up to us, and the stakes can’t be higher – not just in terms of the number of people who could die in the fourth rise, but also in terms of the risk of even more dangerous variants arise when there is more uncontrolled spread. “

That’s why it’s especially important that state leaders don’t relax restrictions and remove mask mandates now, experts have warned.

“It’s encouraging to see these trends coming down, but they are coming from an extraordinarily high place,” said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Sunday at NBC. “If we want to get our kids back to school, and I believe we all do, it all depends on how dispersed the community is.”

“We all need to take responsibility for reducing that spread in the community, including wearing a mask so that we can get our children and our society back,” the director added.

Homegrown Covid-19 variants spotted in the US

One of the most concerning Covid-19 strains detected in the US is the highly contagious B.1.1.7 variant, first spotted in the UK. More than 1,100 cases of the variant have been reported in 39 states – with about one-third of the cases reported in Florida, according to data from the CDC.

The US has also reported at least 17 cases of one species initially seen in South Africa and at least two cases of another species, first being associated with Brazil.

Lot of homegrown coronavirus mutations seen in the US.
Meanwhile, researchers announced Sunday that they have identified a batch of similar troubling mutations in Covid-19 samples in the US that also appear to make the virus more transmissible.
Those mutations all affect the same piece of the spike protein – the button-like extension on the outside of the virus that it uses to attach to the cells it infects, researchers wrote in a pre-printed report that has not yet been peer-reviewed. assessed. .
But these mutations seem to be “relatively rare” so far, one of the researchers said.

States are still struggling with the supply of vaccines

Public health experts say the US is now in a race against time to vaccinate as many Americans as possible before the variants continue to spread and mutate further.

But as states ramp up their vaccinations, challenges remain – including supply shortages.

What you need to know before making a vaccine appointment at your pharmacy

In San Francisco, officials announced that a high-volume vaccination site will pause for a week and reopen “as soon as supplies are sufficient to resume operations.” A high-volume second site expects to resume vaccinations Friday – but only for second doses. A third high-volume vaccination site will be launched this week, officials said, but “with available appointments well below full capacity.”

“Vaccine supply to San Francisco health care providers and the Department of Public Health (DPH) is limited, inconsistent and unpredictable, making vaccine introduction difficult and denying San Franciscans this potentially life-saving intervention,” officials said in a press release . Sunday.

“The city has the capacity to administer more than 10,000 vaccines a day, but lacks the vaccine stockpile,” she added.

A supply shortage has also hampered activities in other parts of the state, even as officials recently announced that they will add millions more to the state’s priority list. Several of the Covid-19 vaccination centers in Los Angeles were forced to close temporarily due to a lack of vaccine doses.
Small triumphs, some glitches as the nationwide Covid-19 vaccine pharmacy program kicks off
In Washington State, officials said appointments for the first dose this week will be “extremely limited” as the state will focus on administering second doses.

“We are closely monitoring the distribution of doses and adjusting where necessary,” Health Minister Umair A. Shah said in a statement. “While the limited availability of first doses will be challenging in the coming week, focusing on second doses will pave the way for improved and more sustainable vaccine allocation in the coming weeks.”

The two states are far from alone in their struggle. Officials have said the supply is likely to remain challenging for some time, and experts say vaccines likely won’t be widely available to the American public until late spring or summer.

Walensky, the CDC director, told Fox News on Sunday that she expects “we will have enough vaccine by the end of the summer to vaccinate the entire eligible American population.”

Expert: Teacher vaccinations ‘essential’ for reopening schools

Meanwhile, one of the pivotal questions in vaccinations right now is when educators across the country can get their shots.

Emergency doctor Dr. Leana Wen told CNN on Sunday that vaccinations for teachers are crucial when it comes to reopening the school – differing in opinion from the guidelines for reopening schools released by the CDC last week.
CDC director says 'we have work to do' when it comes to reopening schools safely

The agency’s guidelines did not identify vaccination as a “key” strategy for opening schools, but instead focused on measures such as masks and physical distances. Vaccinations for staff and teachers are “an extra layer of protection,” Walensky said earlier.

On Sunday, Walensky told CNN that while vaccination is not a prerequisite for teachers to reopen schools, current CDC guidelines specify that those at higher risk should have virtual options.

“I am very much in favor of teachers getting their vaccinations, but we don’t believe it is a prerequisite for schools to reopen,” she said.

But Wen called vaccinations for teachers “essential.”

“If we want students to go to school to learn in person, the least we can do is protect the health and well-being of our teachers – especially since so many parts of the country are already employing teachers to go back to school in poorly ventilated, tight spaces, with many students not always masking and exercising their physical distance, ”said Wen.

CNN’s Keith Allen, Ben Tinker, Michael Nedelman, Maggie Fox and Naomi Thomas contributed to this report.

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