Vaccine distribution picks up

White House: Record 22M doses to be shipped in next week

WASHINGTON — More than 22 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines will be distributed in the next week, a record in the U.S. fight to contain the coronavirus.

The White House announced that states will receive more than 16 million doses of the three approved coronavirus vaccines, slightly higher than last week. The balance will go to federally administered programs, including mass vaccination sites, retail pharmacies and community health centers.

White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients informed governors on a Tuesday call of their allotments. Most of this week’s doses will be from Moderna and Pfizer, but some supply of Johnson & Johnson is beginning to ship.

The supply is set to accelerate further next week when the federal government expects J&J to begin shipping 4 million to 6 million doses per week.

The increased supply comes as more states are lifting eligibility criteria for the vaccines ahead of President Joe Biden’s mandate that all adults be eligible for vaccination by May 1.

If vaccine supplies are provided to Vermont as promised, all residents who want it can be fully vaccinated by the summer, allowing the state “to get back to normal” by July 4, Gov. Phil Scott said Tuesday.

Montana residents 16 and older will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on April 1, Gov. Greg Gianforte announced Tuesday.

Arkansas is making the coronavirus vaccine available to 1 million more people in the state. Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday announced the state was opening up the vaccine to those in 1C of its vaccination plan. That category includes food service, prisoners and people with certain health conditions that put them at risk.

Meanwhile, appointments to get the coronavirus vaccine in Mississippi opened up for everyone over age 16 on Tuesday, and thousands of residents rushed to book their shots. In other developments:

■ About 90 percent of California’s nearly 40 million residents can enjoy a restaurant meal indoors, watch a movie at a theater and sweat it out inside a gym after more counties were authorized to open up to business thanks to low coronavirus case rates throughout the state. San Diego and Sacramento were among the counties that moved out of the most restrictive purple tier, public health officials announced Tuesday.

■ Three Alabama lawmakers tested positive for COVID-19 this week, a legislative spokesman confirmed Tuesday.

■ A variant of the coronavirus first identified in Brazil has been found in Massachusetts for the first time, state public health officials said Tuesday. The person with the variant is described only as a woman in her 30s who lives in Barnstable County and tested positive in late February, the state Department of Public Health said in an emailed statement.