April could see ‘open season’ on COVID-19 vaccines, Fauci says

LOS ANGELES — The United States could see “open season” on COVID-19 vaccine doses by April, Dr. Anthony

Fauci said Thursday, an optimistic forecast that comes as states continue to clamor for additional supplies to ramp up their rollouts.

Though the nation will still be far from administering doses to all those who need it by then, Fauci said he believes conditions will improve to the point that health officials can begin inoculating the wider population.

“I would imagine, by the time we get to April, that will be what I would call, for better wording, ‘open season’ — namely, virtually everybody and anybody in any category could start to get vaccinated,” the U.S. government’s top infectious diseases expert said during an appearance on NBC’S “Today” show.

“From then on, it would likely take several more months just logistically to get vaccine into people’s arms, so that, hopefully, as we get into the middle and end of the summer, we could have accomplished the goal of what we’re talking about: namely, the overwhelming majority of people in this country having gotten vaccinated.”

At this point, only select groups are eligible to receive the vaccines — a strategic decision meant to ensure health care and certain front-line workers, as well as those most at risk of suffering the severest consequences of COVID-19, are first in line.

In California, those who work in healthcare, live in long-term care facilities or are 65 and older can currently be vaccinated. Teachers, childcare workers and other educators, food and agriculture workers, and law enforcement are also eligible — though many local health departments have yet to allow those groups to register for appointments, as vaccine supplies remain tight.

Health authorities nationwide have said supply is the biggest impediment to speeding up vaccinations. Dose allocations have varied from week to week, and until recently, officials received scant insight into what their shipments would look like even a few weeks into the future, making long-term planning a challenge.

Fauci, however, said he expects the vaccine distribution to accelerate in the months ahead.

“If you look at what’s going to happen as we get into March and April, the number of available doses will allow for much more of a mass vaccination approach, which is really much more accelerated than what you’re seeing now,” he said. “If you compare now to what we were doing just literally a month ago, the escalation has really been considerable.”