Source: Global Times
[Global Times Special Correspondent in the United States and Germany, Li Yong Aoki Weihui] In Houston, the telephone network for vaccination consultations collapsed; in Florida, elderly people lined up outdoors for vaccination; in cold weather , Tennessee old people leaned on the walker on the highway and waited hard... This is the chaotic scene in the process of vaccinating the new crown pneumonia in various parts of the United States listed by the "New York Times" on the 4th. Although the US authorities have placed almost all their hopes of fighting the epidemic on vaccines, the vaccination process has been chaotic and slow. As of January 2, the United States had received only about 4.2 million doses of the vaccine, which was far behind the White House's previously promised target of 20 million doses by the end of December 2020. Some US media sarcastically stated that at the current rate, it will take several years to vaccinate enough Americans. In this life-and-death race, the disease did not slow down at all. During this period, the number of new cases and deaths in a single day in the United States has repeatedly set new highs. The cumulative number of confirmed cases has exceeded 20.6 million, and the deaths have exceeded 350,000. The news that the medical system in California and other "severe disaster areas" is on the verge of collapse, and the news that funeral homes refuse to accept corpses makes people shudder. As the United States is experiencing peak travel during the Christmas and New Year holidays, some experts have warned that the situation may get worse in the coming weeks. It will take several years for
to be vaccinated at the current rate.
The 71-year-old retired librarian Barbara Schleven lives in Broward County, Florida. To consult about vaccination, she made 184 calls to the local health department and the hospital before and after. Only one call was connected, but it was quickly disconnected. Vaccines are given priority to the elderly, but Schliewen still does not know when she and her husband will have the opportunity to get the vaccine. She said: "With at least 6 months to prepare, I could have figured out a better way to do this. It shouldn't be so difficult." The Washington Post reported on the US vaccination chaos on the 4th. I cited this example to emphasize that although vaccines have been obtained in many places, the vaccination process has not been smooth. Z1z
and chaos are accompanied by the slow inoculation rate. According to the US "Forbes" magazine website, Trump administration officials had predicted that by the end of December 2020, 20 million people would have received the first dose of the vaccine. However, according to tracking data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of January 2 this year, only about 4.2 million people had received the first dose of the vaccine. The United States receives an average of 225,000 doses of vaccine every day, which is often even lower than the number of new infections every day. It is encouraging that the rate of vaccination has accelerated in recent days, but at the current rate, it will still take several years to vaccinate Americans.
On the 4th, Moncef Slavi, the chief adviser of the White House's new crown vaccine public relations program, admitted that vaccination efforts across the United States are lagging behind. The British "Guardian" said that the United States easily reached the shocking milestone of 20 million new crown cases, but it is a huge problem to achieve the goal of vaccinating 20 million people by the end of 2020. Nowadays, people often use "chaos" to describe vaccine distribution in the United States and criticize incompetent officials for "scrumbling" things. Even in New York, the epicenter of the epidemic last spring, vaccination was very slow. According to the New York Times last Friday, the city has received more than 340,000 doses of vaccine, but only about 88,000 doses have been injected. Experts warn that if the vaccination process does not get on the right track as soon as possible, hundreds of thousands of people may die.
Regarding the reasons for the confusion and slowness of vaccination, "Forbes" analyzed that, first, there were supply problems. Some governors complained that the quantity of vaccines they received was far below the quantity promised by vaccine manufacturers. In addition, the contradiction in demand is prominent. Some people are eager to fight, but some priority groups are unwilling to fight. The most important thing is the lack of adequate planning and logistical support. The Trump administration has not formulated a national plan for vaccine distribution and management. Trump said on Twitter a few days ago: "After the federal government sends the vaccine to designated areas, the states To distribute vaccines.” Distribution logistics are largely arranged by the states, but most states lack this capability.
"The Guardian" stated that the United States has chronically underfunded public health. Experts said that it is necessary to develop a unified national plan to solve the logistics supply problem. Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University School of Public Health, said: "Basically, the federal government messed up vaccine distribution. They think that when the vaccine arrives in the United States, their mission is completed, and there is really no clear Plan.”
Reuters quoted US health officials on the 3rd as saying that the US government is considering injecting some people.Half dose of Modena vaccine to achieve rapid vaccination. Modena's vaccine originally required two injections of the vaccinated person.
More disasters can be foreseen.
vaccination is slow, but the virus spreads faster and faster. National Public Radio said on the 3rd that the number of infected people in the United States has surged again. Last Saturday, nearly 300,000 new cases were confirmed, setting a new single-day record. And last Wednesday, the number of single-day deaths in the United States hit a record of 3,750. In the last three days of 2020 alone, more than 10,000 people in the United States will die from the new crown virus.
"The California medical system is facing collapse." CNN said on the 4th that in California alone, the number of confirmed cases on the 3rd was as high as 45,352, and the local medical system was on the verge of collapse. In the United States, there are currently 125,544 people hospitalized due to COVID-19, which is a record high. Brad Spielberg, the head of a hospital in Los Angeles County, said, "If we get another blow, it will be a complete collapse of the entire medical system." The Los Angeles Times recently stated that not only the hospitals in Los Angeles County are full, but the funeral home space is also severely insufficient, and many institutions refuse to accept it.
Faced with the tragedy of more than 20 million infections and 350,000 deaths, Trump claimed on Twitter on the 3rd that the number of cases and deaths in the United States was "seriously exaggerated." In response, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, retorted in an interview: "We have more than 300,000 deaths, and we have an average of 2,000 to 3,000 deaths every day... These are real numbers." Fauci also said that many hospitals are in a state of high pressure, "now patients have no beds, well-trained personnel are exhausted. This is true, not fake."
Although the epidemic is raging, the United States still experienced the peak of holiday travel at the end of the year. Data from the US Transportation Security Administration shows that although the number of air travel has dropped significantly compared with previous years, last Saturday was the busiest day at US airports since the outbreak, with more than 1.19 million passengers passing security checks. Since December 18 last year, more than 16.3 million people in the United States have passed airport security checks. The New York Times stated on the 4th that the virus is raging in many areas, and the mutant virus found in the UK has also begun to spread in the United States. Health officials warned that infections related to holiday gatherings will trigger a new wave of epidemics, and more catastrophic days may emerge in the future. "This is terrible, unfortunately, but it is predictable," Fauci said.
"2021 will still be difficult"
In Europe, many people have criticized the slow speed of vaccination. "Fatal mistake," German RTL TV said on the 4th that Germany began to vaccinate nationwide on the 27th of last month. It has been a week since, but less than 250,000 people have been vaccinated. Compared with Germany, France has made slower progress. The French 24-hour news station said on the 3rd. As of December 31 last year, that is, four days after the start of vaccination, France had only vaccinated 352 people. Last Saturday, only 80 people in France were vaccinated. After a strong protest from health professionals, the French government vowed to increase vaccination efforts. The United Kingdom was the first western country to approve the emergency use of Pfizer vaccines. The vaccination started earlier, and more than 1 million doses have been given. On the 4th, the vaccine jointly developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca also officially launched a large-scale vaccination in the UK.
The British "Financial Times" said on the 4th that European countries are considering extending or strengthening restrictions to combat the more contagious variants of the new coronavirus. At present, the number of new infections in Germany has fallen from the high point on Christmas Eve, but Germany is still preparing to extend the nationwide blockade measures to the end of January. In France, the government has advanced the curfew time for 15 areas in the east and southeast from 8 pm to 6 pm. In the UK, Prime Minister Johnson stated that the government may have to adopt stricter measures to delay school opening. Scotland announced that it will implement the most stringent controls starting at 0:00 on the 5th.
"This will be a difficult year." CNN said on the 4th that the WHO emergency project technical leader Van Kelkhov said that despite the launch of the vaccine, 2021 will still be difficult. The vaccine will not be effective soon, and the vaccination rate will be slower than people hope.
