Health care experts are warning that it may take the remainder of the decade for the United States to reach its vaccination goal.
At the current rate of injections, according to an NBC analysis of vaccine data Tuesday, it would take almost ten years to inoculate Americans against COVID-19 and achieve “herd immunity.”
Currently, according to the CDC’s website, approximately over 2.1 million Americans have received their first dose of the vaccine as of 9 a.m. Monday, with 11.4 million doses distributed to states.
More than 2 million Americans given first vaccine dose – but US will miss 20 million goal by end of 2020 https://t.co/B6CbE4TVOh
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) December 29, 2020
Operation Warp Speed, the president’s private-public partnership on the COVID vaccine, had originally promised at least 20 million vaccines would be distributed by the end of December.
The program also has a goal of ensuring that at least 80 percent of Americans received their shot by late June, as reported by NBC, which would require approximately 3 million shots per day to reach that projection as of Tuesday. (RELATED: ‘Whoop Dee Doo’: Ron DeSantis Blows Off His Own Chances At An Early Vaccine. ‘I’m Not The Priority’)
“I don’t think we’re going to be able to distribute the 20 million doses that were promised.” Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former Food and Drug Administration Director, told CNBC regarding the lag in vaccine distribution.
Biden attacked Trump for his slow rollout of the vaccine, as reported by NBC, stating that the administration had “fallen short” on its promises and that the effort was “not progressing as it should.”
The World Health Organization’s chief scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, has also expressed uncertainty on whether the vaccines would stop transmission of the virus completely during a press briefing on Monday.