"The US government is considering giving some people half the dose of Moderna vaccine to achieve rapid vaccination." On January 3 local time, Reuters made the news, citing U.S. federal government officials.

"The US government is considering injecting some people with half the dose of Moderna vaccine to achieve rapid vaccination of . " On January 3 local time, Reuters made the news citing U.S. federal government officials.

The rising number of confirmed cases, the medical status of many places on the verge of collapse, and the slow speed of COVID-19 vaccination in various states...

For the current United States, it seems that it will take a long time to usher in the "light at the end of darkness".

For the sake of speed, the US government wants to "halve" the dose of

vaccine?

On January 3 local time, Monsef Slavi, head of the White House COVID-19 vaccine and chief adviser to the US COVID-19 vaccine program "Operation Warp Speed", said that the federal government is communicating with Moderna and the US Food and Drug Administration on the above ideas, and whether to promote the above plans will ultimately be decided by the FDA.

△Slavi was interviewed by CBS

In addition, he claimed: "From the clinical trial data provided by Moderna, half of the dose of is given to to 55-year-old . can produce the same immune response as the injection of all doses, so that the number of vaccinated can double the number of people under the existing vaccine stock. "

In this regard, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) quickly issued an official statement to refute this proposal. The FDA said this practice is not mature and may pose unpredictable risks to public health .

△Screens’ comment screenshot

Some netizens also raised questions: "The suggestion of halving the dose is based on the ongoing second phase of research. But the immune response is not exactly equal to the efficacy of the vaccine, and the current number of samples is also very small. In addition, if 50 micrograms is injected is enough, why do they choose 100 micrograms as the full dose of the third phase clinical trial?"

vaccination status: the appointment system collapses, and people queue up all night...

Judging from the current epidemic situation in the United States, the vaccination speed of vaccines is difficult to keep up with the growth rate of confirmed cases. Many places in the United States are also in a "chaotic mess" due to vaccination problems: hundreds of elderly people lined up outdoors all night in order to get vaccinated against the cold wind; vaccination reservation websites in some areas collapsed directly; Some people tried to call hundreds of consultation calls but could not connect; and some people were vaccinated in a confused manner when they were shopping in supermarkets.

In Florida, the local area implements the "first come first served" principle for people over 65 years old. In many places, the elderly queue up all night to wait for vaccination. There are even elderly 190-year-old among the queuing personnel. Because the temperature is low at night, they also bring blankets, sleeping bags, etc. American media reported that at 14:00 a.m. every day, someone started queuing for the next day's vaccination. Usually, the vaccination that can be vaccinated on the same day has been shipped, and the vaccination site opening time is 9:00 a.m.

△The elderly queuing all night in Florida

Starting from January 4, vaccination in some parts of the United States will begin to implement an appointment system. However, due to the large number of appointments, most of the 4th, the reservation website system service in some regions was in a crash and the consultation phone number could not be reached.

The Washington Post reported that Barbara Schliewen, a 71-year-old retired librarian living in Florida, called the local health department and hospital 84 1 to the local health department and hospital on January 4th. Only 1 1 tweeted, but it was quickly disconnected. She said: "(The US government) has at least 6 months to prepare and could have come up with a better way to do this. It shouldn't be so difficult."

△Modner vaccine (data photo)

Some people can't get the vaccine, but some people were accidentally vaccinated. AFP reported on the 4th that recently, a student named David Macmillan and his friend were vaccinated with the new crown vaccine by a supermarket pharmacy staff while shopping in Washington. At present, the United States has given priority to vaccinating medical staff and elderly people in nursing homes.Macmillan said that the reason why he and his friends were vaccinated was because a medical worker did not go to vaccinate as agreed on that day. Moderna's vaccine needs to be stored at ultra-low temperatures and will deteriorate quickly once it is taken out of the refrigeration equipment and poked the lid.

Why did "War Speed ​​Action" become "slow motion"

Faced with the outside world's criticism of the slower than expected vaccination speed and chaos in distribution, US President Trump posted a message on social platforms to "blame" the state government: the federal government has shipped the vaccine to various states, and now states are responsible for vaccine distribution and vaccination.

△Screenshot of US President Trump social media

Industry insiders pointed out that transportation is only the easiest step in the vaccination process, and distributing vaccination is the most difficult part. Due to the lack of a coordinated federal government organization, the vaccination work in the United States is basically in a state of being in a state of being in a leaderless and fighting alone. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, believes that the current government's arrangements are unreasonable. Letting local health officials and hospitals be responsible for vaccination is to hand over the most difficult work to the group of people with the least resources and the most powerlessness.

△A medical staff is waiting for vaccination (Photo source: Getty Images)

The US local health department told the US media that they not only have to be in charge of vaccination, but also be responsible for a series of epidemic prevention work such as new coronavirus testing and contact tracing. The health department has long been short of staff and has to temporarily recruit people to replace them. Some local hospitals also said that the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has surged, and hospitals are busy with treatment, so has no time to take care of vaccination with .

△The Washington Post commented that the slow vaccination speed is because governments at all levels have dereliction of duty

On the one hand, there are confirmed cases that need to be isolated and treated, and on the other hand, there are high-risk groups who need to be vaccinated. In the lack of overall coordination of the federal government, grassroots health and medical workers in the United States are exhausted.

In order to distribute the vaccine as soon as possible, some grassroots staff in the United States even need to think of their own solutions. In Michigan, every five days, doctor Richard Bates has to trek in his own car for more than 1,200 kilometers of and send dozens of doses of vaccine to township hospitals in the northern part of the state. It takes 13 hours of one way. Bates told the media: "I drove by many small towns. At that time, I was thinking, how can we vaccinate so many people?"

△Dr. Bates used an insulator to deliver the vaccine to township hospitals (Photo source: local health agency)

At present, the new crown vaccine widely distributed in the United States must be stored at ultra-low temperatures of -75℃ . Due to the problem of the decentralized medical system, some small hospitals and institutions in the United States not only lack ultra-low-temperature refrigerators that can store vaccines, but also lack staff with vaccination licenses.

△ Some local medical institutions have to purchase ultra-low-temperature refrigerators to store vaccines

In addition, the American people’s trust in vaccines is also an important factor affecting the vaccination plan.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has said about 160% of nursing home staff in the state refuse to get vaccinated. The CEO of the Florida Safety Net Hospital Alliance also said that in Florida, some hospital staff members refused to get vaccinated due to safety considerations.

Many experts pointed out that all the problems about the new crown pneumonia have been extremely politicized in the United States by , and the process of promoting vaccine research, development and production of the US government is "unbelievably fast", and the chaos in the process of vaccine distribution and vaccination have greatly affected people's trust in vaccines.

vaccination progress is slow. "Disaster" can be predicted.

According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of the end of December 2020, only about .8 million Americans received the first dose of the new crown vaccine, far lower than the federal government's previously proposed 0 million dose vaccination target.

The New York Times pointed out that the number of new crown vaccines distributed across the United States has exceeded 4 million doses of , but the current usage rate is only 0% .

Experts believe that at this rate, it will take 0 years of to cover the 80% of the population required for herd immunity.

△Screencapital Hill report screenshot

Although the distribution and vaccination of vaccines are hindering, the new coronavirus is still coming in full force. According to data from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, as of 16:22 Eastern Time on the 4th, the number of confirmed cases of new coronavirus infection in the United States exceeded 20.75 million , and the number of deaths reached 1352,858 . In the past 24 hours, 183,834 new confirmed cases and 1,581 new deaths.

The epidemic is so surging that it has not stopped the American people from traveling. Data from the U.S. Transportation Safety Administration shows that although the number of air travelers has dropped significantly compared with previous years, on January 2, U.S. airports ushered in the busiest day since the outbreak of the epidemic, with more than 11.19 million passengers passing security checks. Since December 18, 2020, more than 116.3 million have passed airport security checks in the United States.

△The US media "Capital Hill" reported that Fauci said that the new crown epidemic in the United States "may be worse" in the next few weeks

In response, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, predicts that the number of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States may rise in the next one to two weeks. He said: "It's bad, unfortunately, but it's predictable for . "

. Van Kelkhofer, technical director of the WHO emergency project, also said that despite the introduction of the new crown vaccine, 2021 will still be difficult for . because the vaccine will not take effect soon, and the vaccination speed is slower than people hope.

Source: CCTV News Client