{"id":72208,"date":"2021-09-27T15:48:49","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T15:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=72208"},"modified":"2021-09-27T15:48:49","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T15:48:49","slug":"us-has-enough-covid-19-vaccines-for-boosters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=72208","title":{"rendered":"US has enough COVID-19 vaccines for boosters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"News Desk:<\/strong> With more than 40 million doses of coronavirus vaccines available, U.S. health authorities said they\u2019re confident there will be enough for both qualified older Americans seeking booster shots and the young children for whom initial vaccines are expected to be approved in the not-too-distant future.<\/p>\n

The spike in demand \u2014 expected following last week\u2019s federal recommendation on booster shots \u2014 would be the first significant jump in months. More than 70 million Americans remain unvaccinated despite the enticement of lottery prizes, free food or gifts and pleas from exhausted health care workers as the average number of deaths per day climbed to more than 1,900 in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

Federal and state health authorities said current supply and steady production of more doses can easily accommodate those seeking boosters or initial vaccination, avoiding a repeat of the frustratingly slow rollout of COVID-19 vaccines across the country early this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that we have the level of interest in the booster … that we need more vaccines,\u201d Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said Tuesday. \u201cThat\u2019s simply not where we are today. We have plenty of vaccines.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robust supply in the U.S enabled President Joe Biden this week to promise an additional 500 million of Pfizer\u2019s COVID-19 shots to share with the world, doubling the United States\u2019 global contribution. Aid groups and health organizations have pushed the U.S. and other countries to improve vaccine access in countries where even the most vulnerable people haven\u2019t had a shot.<\/p>\n

Among the challenges states face is not ordering too many doses and letting them go to waste. Several states with low vaccination rates, including Idaho and Kansas, have reported throwing away thousands of expired doses or are struggling to use vaccines nearing expiration this fall.<\/p>\n

While most vaccines can stay on the shelf unopened for months, once a vial is opened the clock starts ticking. Vaccines are only usable for six to 12 hours, depending on the manufacturer, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.<\/p>\n

Moderna vaccines come in vials containing 11 to 15 doses. Pfizer vials contain up to six doses and Johnson & Johnson vials five doses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to see more doses that go unused over time,\u201d said Wisconsin\u2019s health secretary, Karen Timberlake. \u201cThey come in multidose files. They don\u2019t come in nice, tidy individual single-serving packages.\u201d<\/p>\n

State health officials said they have tried to request only what health care providers and pharmacies expect to need from the federal supply. Those numbers have dwindled since the vaccines became widely available in early spring.<\/p>\n

But U.S. officials \u2014 holding out hope that some of the unvaccinated will change their minds \u2014 are trying to keep enough vaccines in stock so all Americans can get them.<\/p>\n

That balancing act is tricky and can lead to consternation around the globe as the U.S. sits on unused vaccines while many countries in places such as Africa can\u2019t get enough vaccines.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody sitting in a country with few resources to access vaccines, seeing people in the U.S. able to walk into a pharmacy and get that vaccine and choosing not to, I\u2019m sure that\u2019s causing heartache,\u201d said Jen Kates, senior vice president and director of global health and HIV policy for the Kaiser Family Foundation.<\/p>\n

Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, which represents the public health agencies of all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, said officials anticipate that on-hand doses of COVID-19 vaccines and manufacturers\u2019 ability to supply more will meet needs across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think states have tried to plan as if everybody\u2019s going to be offered a booster,\u201d he said, suggesting they will be overprepared for the more narrow recommendations issued by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n

California, for example, estimated earlier this month that it would need to administer an extra 63 million doses by the end of 2022 \u2014 if initial shots for children under 12 were approved and boosters were open to everyone.<\/p>\n

U.S. health officials late Thursday endorsed booster shots of the Pfizer vaccine for all Americans 65 and older \u2014 along with tens of millions of younger people who are at higher risk from the coronavirus because of health conditions or their jobs.<\/p>\n

California, with nearly 40 million residents, has the lowest transmission rate of any state and nearly 70% of eligible residents are fully vaccinated. That leaves nearly 12 million people not vaccinated or not fully vaccinated.<\/p>\n

Dr. Mark Ghaly, California\u2019s health secretary, said the state will rely largely on pharmacies and primary care providers to give boosters to seniors while some large counties and health care groups will use mass vaccination sites.<\/p>\n

In Pennsylvania, more than 67% of residents older than 18 are fully vaccinated. Alison Beam, acting secretary of health, said health authorities now have \u201ctwo missions\u201d: Continuing to persuade people to get vaccinated and serving those eager to receive a booster or initial shots.<\/p>\n

\u201cPennsylvania is going to be prepared,\u201d Beam said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re going to have the right level of vaccine and vaccinators to be able to meet that demand.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News Desk: With more than 40 million doses of coronavirus vaccines available, U.S. health authorities said they\u2019re confident there will be enough for both qualified older Americans seeking booster shots and the young children for whom initial vaccines are expected to be approved in the not-too-distant future. The spike in demand \u2014 expected following last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":72209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n