States submit vaccine orders as deaths rise
COLUMBUS, Ohio — States faced a deadline on Friday to place orders for the coronavirus vaccine as many reported record infections, hospitalizations and deaths, while hospitals were pushed to the breaking point — with the worst feared yet to come.
The number of Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 hit an all-time high in the U.S. on Thursday at 100,667, according to the COVID Tracking Project. That figure has more than doubled over the past month, while new daily cases are averaging 210,000 and deaths are averaging 1,800 per day, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Texas surpassed 9,000 lab-confirmed coronavirus hospital patients this week, drawing nearer to the July 22 peak of 10,893 hospitalizations during the state’s midsummer surge.
Health officials fear the pandemic will get worse be
fore it gets better because of delayed effects from Thanksgiving, when millions of Americans disregarded warnings to stay home and celebrate only with members of their household.
At the same time, hospi
tals — and their workers — were stretched to the limit.
Officials also are concerned that Americans will let down their guard once states begin administering vaccines.
It will take weeks to months before many of the
nation’s most vulnerable residents can be immunized, White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said Thursday. Until then, Americans should not hold indoor gatherings with people they don’t live with or take off their masks when they’re outdoors, and should continue to keep their distance from others and wash their hands, she said.
“I think everyone can see that this current surge that we’re experiencing is much faster and broader across the United States and is lasting longer,” Birx said after a meeting at United Nations headquarters in New York.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Wednesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending 1.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Texas before the end of the year. They are expected to begin arriving in mid-December and be distributed “swiftly.” The state’s 1.6 million health care workers would be among the initial recipients.
An influential modeling group at the University of Washington said Friday the expected U.S. vaccine rollout will mean 9,000 fewer deaths by April 1. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation predicts that warmer temperatures and then rising vaccination rates will lead to steady declines in the daily death toll starting in February.
But even with a vaccine, the death toll could reach 770,000 by April 1 if states do not act to bring current surges under control, the group said.
States learned only this week how many doses to expect and when, and received guidance from the CDC recommending that health care workers and nursing home patients get the first doses. That meant that some had to make lastminute adjustments.
But states also were balancing concerns about the economy and protecting essential workers.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said the state’s vaccine plan calls for the first shots to go to front-line health care workers with a high risk of coronavirus exposure, including workers in nursing homes, as well as nursing home residents. Meatpacking plant workers and grocery store employees will be next in line, along with first responders.