By Alex Woodward
Reporter
The Independent
The US has not met its goal to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of 2020, with fewer than 3 million Americans receiving their first dose from two fast-tracked Covid-19 vaccines by New Year’s Eve.
Donald Trump’s administration sought to distribute 40 million doses of the two approved vaccines by the end of the year, enough to innoculate 20 million people, as both vaccines require two shots. But roughly 12.5 million doses have been distributed, and only 2.8 million of those doses have been administered, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Even if there are significant lags in the CDC reporting system as states’ vaccination efforts are underway, “that number is lower than what we hoped for,” said Moncef Slaoui, scientific adviser of Operation Warp Speed, the White House effort to boost vaccine development and drug treatment to combat the disease.
“We know that it should be better, and we’re working hard to make it better,” he told reporters on 30 December.
Reports from across the US illustrate the scope of the shortfalls and confusion – from 500 “intentionally” damaged doses that were discovered in Wisconsin, to pharmacists in Texas watching doses expire without any guidance to administer them, and a chaotic first-come, first-served process in Florida, overwhelmed by demand and forcing older Americans to wait in hours-long lines.