Health officials express concern about short-term vaccine supply crunch; race between vaccines and variants

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Health officials express concern about short-term vaccine supply crunch; race between vaccines and variants

Sun, 2021-01-24 16:33 — mike kraft

Biden health officials express concern about short-term vaccine supply crunch “I think that the supply is probably going to be the most limiting constraint early on," the CDC director said. Jesse Naranjo POLITICO

Top Biden administration health officials on Sunday expressed concern about limited vaccine supplies but offered measured optimism that the worse-than-expected rollout would be improved, while warning that the current crunch for doses posed a pressing threat.

“I think that the supply is probably going to be the most limiting constraint early on, and we’re really hoping that after that first hundred days we will have much more production,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Asked on ABC’s “This Week” whether President Joe Biden’s promise of 100 million Americans vaccinated in his first 100 days was good enough, Surgeon General pick Vivek Murthy said that goal was a reflection of the realities the rollout faces.

“That's a floor; it's not a ceiling,” Murthy told host George Stephanopoulos. “It's also a goal that reflects the realities of what we face, what could go right but also what could go wrong.”

Both officials said the potential approval of a Johnson & Johnson vaccine could be a positive future development, but Murthy noted that Biden’s 100-million-vaccines promise is not reliant on that happening. ...

Experts have pointed out that vaccinating 100 million Americans in 100 days will still leave the nation far short of herd immunity as the nation's caseload continues to grow. The total number of diagnosed coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed 25 million. More than 417,000 people have died in the U.S.

Walensky said that the data she had seen so far indicated the current supply problems were an immediate concern, rather than a long-term issue. ...

ALSO SEE: The US just marked 25 million Covid-19 cases. Now it's a race between vaccines and variants CNN Rounup

A coronavirus variant called B.1.1.7, first identified in the United Kingdom, is one of the more concerning strains.

It's been detected in at least 22 US states, according to data posted Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it's certainly possibly this strain could be more harmful. ...

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