We are far off the pace of vaccination we were hoping for. At this point, less than 1/3rd of planned vaccinations have been administered. The problem with how slowly vaccination has been occurring thus far has not been a supply issue. There is plenty of vaccine available. In fact, we have heard that many vials have more doses than planned and many doses are being wasted.
The issue is the roll-out and infrastructure. Each state and location seems to have different issues and lack of a coordinated, central leadership is mostly to blame. Each state decides who gets it and when. How they give it is also very disjointed.
There is a perfectly rational argument to just open things up and let anyone who wants a vaccine to go ahead and get it, regardless of age, health status or living/care situation. Give it to the pharmacies for the general public (assuming they have the storage capabilities). Give it to family doctors…Just like the flu vaccine.
Although on the one hand, we should protect the most vulnerable, like healthcare workers, first responders, the elderly, nursing home patients and those with chronic diseases, maybe we should also target those who are spreading the virus the most. And that would be all the younger, healthier, and yes, less responsible, people. The studies show that younger, asymptomatic people are responsible for the majority of the spread. In fact, 40% of the spread is being attributed to asymptomatic people.
Covid outbreaks don’t just “pop up” spontaneously in a nursing home, prison or school. Someone brings it in. And it is clearly someone asymptomatic, unless their screening protocols are not being enforced.
I don’t have a perfect answer. There isn’t one. However, the more people we can immunize as fast as possible, the better the faster we will get past this. What that future will look like is unclear. Unless enough people are protected at the same time, the virus will keep floating around and we will likely need boosters or new vaccines forever, just like the flu.
It is important to ensure that there are enough doses in the pipeline to give those who got their first shot, their second shot 3-4 weeks later, depending on the version. A few weeks delay is not likely to have any negative impact on efficacy but beyond that, we just don’t know.
Until we figure it out, do all the basics to keep everyone safe and get a vaccine as soon as you can.
Stay safe and be well.
AC