As we continue to hear news of COVID-19 variants making their landfall and presence in the United States, the mass vaccination campaign continues. Meanwhile as cases continue to surge, hospitals are overflowing, and deaths have reached almost 400,000, vaccinations supplies are dwindling. In the quest to get more people vaccinated these supply problems greatly impact those plans.
Under the new incoming Biden administration, the mass vaccination plans under Operation Warp Speed will greatly increase and they will release more supplies intended as second doses in order to get more people vaccinated with the first dose. The hope is that meanwhile the number of supplies will continue to increase from Pfizer and Moderna and perhaps from EUA approvals made from other companies like Johnson & Johnson. Hopefully this will come at time when the new variants of COVID-19, which are apparently more transmissible but not more deadly, could greatly increase the number of cases.
If it wasn’t bad enough the spike in number of cases due to post holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s), now for these new variants to increase cases is putting a system on the brink of disaster in a more perilous situation. The need for continue mask wearing, social distancing, and hand washing are imperative as well as more rapid antigen tests deployed more often along with contact tracing. Certainly things may have to get worse before they get better. At least Pfizer and Moderna have stated that their vaccines can handle the new variants. Other companies may also have to check this with their vaccines. As COVID-19 continues to evolve, so do we. And hopefully we can get ahead of it and outsmart COVID-19.
Written by Usha Govindarajulu
January 20, 2021
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