US admits vaccination rollout is slower than hoped — and ‘normality’ may not return until autumn

The pace of immunisations is below the US government's target

Credit: Joe Raedle /Getty

The US government has admitted its coronavirus vaccine rollout is going too slowly, as the country’s top infectious disease expert warned the nation may not reach "some semblance of normality" until the autumn.

As of Thursday morning, just 2.8 million Americans had received a Covid-19 vaccine, far short of the government’s goal of immunising 20 million people this month.

The rollout has been particularly slow moving in nursing homes, where only 170,000 residents had been vaccinated as of December 30, despite patients in the facilities being among the most vulnerable to the virus.

It comes as a more infectious coronavirus strain first detected in the UK has been identified in Colorado and California.  

Neither patient identified with the strain has a known travel history, leading to concerns the new strain was already spreading within those communities.  

Dr Fauci said he expected the pace of immunisations to ramp up soon

Credit: Reuters

As recently as December 4, US officials said their goal of vaccinating 20 million Americans by the end of the year was realistic. But on Wednesday, federal officials revealed only 14 million doses have been distributed to states to date — and far fewer have actually been administered.

Donald Trump has attempted to shift the blame for the slow distribution from the federal government to individual states, where public health officials have been tasked with the rollout to residents at a local level.

"The Federal Government has distributed the vaccines to the states. Now it is up to the states to administer. Get moving!" Mr Trump tweeted on Wednesday.

In turn, public health officials have blamed a lack of federal funding which they claim has left them unable to hire the staff required for the vaccine distribution.

Dr Moncef Slaoui, who is leading the Trump administration’s vaccine rollout programme, admitted the pace of immunisations "should be better" in a recent press briefing.

“We agree that that number is lower than what we hoped for,” he said, adding: “we’re working hard to make it better.”

Discussing the developments, Dr Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious disease specialist, suggested the US may not achieve the level of vaccinations required to regain "some semblance of normality" until autumn 2021.

"As we get into January, the feeling is that we’re going to gain momentum to be able to catch up," Dr Fauci said of the slow vaccine rollout, adding he expected immunisations to become widely available to the American public by April.

If the immunisation programme continues as planned, he said, "by the time we get to the early fall, we will have enough good herd immunity to be able to really get back to some strong semblance of normality — schools, theaters, sports events, restaurants".