More Moderna vaccine is due to go to the states …..
Biden & Co. is under YUGE pressure health wise and politics wise….
The weekly allocation is forecast to go from about 8.6 million doses to about 10 million doses. The vaccine is distributed on a population basis among 64 jurisdictions, including 50 states, eight territories and six major cities.
Zients is expected to stipulate that the increased supply will come from releasing more doses of Moderna’s vaccine — one of two authorized for emergency use in the United States. The other available product, also a two-dose regimen, was developed by Pfizer and German company BioNTech.
The stepped-up allocations are projected to last through the coming weeks. They will be welcome news to state and local officials who have implored the federal government for better forecasting of vaccine availability and transparency about supply….
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In the United States, vaccine appointments have been canceled throughout the country as state and local health officers and medical providers confront a sharply limited supply of vaccine, which is being targeted at medical workers, older people, some front-line workers and other highly vulnerable people. The patchwork of rules about eligibility has deepened confusion about access to the shots….
Vox…
Biden will announce 3 new Covid-19 federal responses:
—Increase vaccine supply to states to ~10 million a week.
—Provide vaccine count estimates to states at least 3 weeks in advance.
—Purchase 100 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines each.
Biden administration seeks to buy 200 million more vaccine doses, to be delivered through the summer
The Biden administration said Tuesday it was on the cusp of securing an additional 200 million doses of the two coronavirus vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States.
The purchases would increase available supply by 50 percent, bringing the total to 600 million doses by this summer.
Because both products — one developed by Pfizer and German company BioNTech, and the other by Moderna — are two-dose regimens, that would be enough to fully vaccinate 300 million people. An estimated 260 million people in the United States are currently considered eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine, although Pfizer and Moderna have initiated trials for children as young as 12, the results of which could expand the pool.
The deals promised by Biden would not immediately speed up vaccinations. But they would greatly boost his chances of returning the nation to some semblance of normalcy by late summer or the fall….
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