States awash in unused vaccines

States asked the federal government this week to withhold staggering amounts of Covid-19 vaccine amid plummeting demand for the shots, contributing to a growing US stockpile of doses.

The turned-down vaccines amount to hundreds of thousands of doses this week alone, providing a stark illustration of the problem of vaccine hesitancy in the US

More than 150 million Americans — about 57 per cent of the adult population — have received at least one dose of vaccine, but government leaders are doing everything they can to persuade the rest of the country to get inoculated.

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said the federal government has dedicated $250 million for community organisations to promote vaccinations, make appointments and provide transportation.

A global Hindu American organisation has turned temples into vaccination centres, making it easier for elderly members to get shots in a familiar setting. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has added a vaccination site in a Formula 1 garage near the race tunnels.

The Biden administration said if states don’t order all the vaccine they’ve been allotted, the administration will shift the surplus to meet demand in other states.

In another sign of the burgeoning national surplus, Biden announced last week that his administration would share the nation’s entire stock of Astrazeneca doses with the world once it clears safety reviews.

The huge supply and dwindling demand has highlighted the vast inequalities during the pandemic, with countries like India buckling under a disastrous surge of the virus and other nations having no doses at all. At the same time, wealthy countries like the US are awash in vaccine, and cases and deaths are plunging as a result.

New EU contract

The European Union Saturday agreed to a massive contract extension for a potential 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer-biontech’s vaccine through 2023.

The new contract, which has the unanimous backing of the EU member states, will entail not only the production of the vaccines, but also making sure that all the essential components should be sourced from the EU.

The European Commission currently has a portfolio of 2.6 billion doses from half a dozen companies.

— AP