US turning corner on virus pandemic, says top official
The task now is to continue building confidence in vaccines and get enough Americans vaccinated to mitigate the spread of the virus and its variants: Zients; some countries have no COVID-19 jabs at all
The United States is closer to geting the coronavirus pandemic under control and health officials are focused on the next challenge: geting more Americans vaccinated, the White House COVID-19 response co-ordinator Jeff Zients said on Sunday.
“I would say we are turning the corner,” Zients said in an interview with CNN’S “State of the Union.”
Zients said about 58% of American adults have received at least one coronavirus vaccine shot. The task now is to continue building confidence in vaccines and get enough Americans vaccinated to mitigate the spread of the virus and its variants, he said.
US health officials are aiming to meet President Joe Biden’s goal of 70% of American adults having at least one shot by the July 4 US Independence Day.
Zients said reaching that goal could help the country reach a sustainable low level of infections.
About 46% of all Americans have received at least one coronavirus vaccine shot, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said another surge in coronavirus infections would be unlikely if the Biden goal is met or exceeded.
“The larger proportion of the population that’s vaccinated, the less likelihood that in a season like the coming fall or winter you’re going to see a significant surge,” Fauci said on NBC’ “Meet the Press.”
“That’s the reason why vaccinations are so important. That’s the wild card that we have now that we didn’t have last fall or the last winter.”
Zients defended the latest masking guidelines from the CDC, which recommends that fully vaccinated people should still wear masks at crowded outdoor events or when they go indoors in public setings with other people who may not be vaccinated.
Some health experts have questioned whether the CDC guidelines are too strict, and that removing the indoor mask mandate for fully vaccinated people could encourage confidence in the vaccines. That move would not, however, protect unvaccinated people from contracting the virus from a carrier who has been vaccinated.
VACCINE SHORTAGE: At the small hospital where Dr Oumaima Djarma works in Chad’s capital, there are no debates over which coronavirus vaccine is the best. There are simply no vaccines at all.
Not even for the doctors and nurses like her, who care for COVID-19 patients in Chad, one of the least-developed nations in the world where about one third of the country is engulfed by the Sahara desert.
“I find it unfair and unjust, and it is something that saddens me,” the 33-year-old infectious diseases doctor says. “I don’t even have that choice. The first vaccine that comes along that has authorisation, I will take it.”
While wealthier nations have stockpiled vaccines for their citizens, many poorer countries are still scrambling to secure doses. A few, like Chad, have yet to receive any.
The world health organisation( who) said nearly a dozen countries — many of them in Africa — are still waiting to get vaccines. Those last in line on the continent along with Chad are Burkina Faso, Burundi, Eritrea and Tanzania.
“Delays and shortages of vaccine supplies are driving African countries to slip further behind the rest of the world in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and the continent now accounts for only 1% of the vaccines administered worldwide,” WHO warned.
And in places where there are no vaccines, there’s also the chance that new and concerning variants could emerge, said Gian Gandhi, Unicef’s Covax co-ordinator for Supply Division.
“So we should all be concerned about any lack of coverage anywhere in the world,” Gandhi said, urging higher-income countries to donate doses to the nations that are still waiting.
While the total of confirmed COVID-19 cases among them is relatively low compared with the world’s hot spots, health officials say that figure is likely a vast undercount: The countries in Africa still waiting for vaccines are among those least equipped to track infections because of their fragile health care systems.
Chad has confirmed only 170 deaths since the pandemic began, but efforts to stop the virus entirely here have been elusive. Although the capital’s international airport was closed briefly last year, its first case came via someone who crossed one of Chad’s porous land borders illegally.