Good News for U.S. Vaccinations Arrives With a Caveat

Covid-19 Live Updates: Good News for U.S. Vaccinations Arrives With a Caveat More vaccines will be made available, but logistics continue to be a problem. Chinese scientists refused to share raw data with W.H.O. inspectors. nytimes

The Covid-19 vaccine rollout is gathering speed in the United States, despite continued difficulties, delays and confusion, and it got another boost when the Food and Drug Administration told the drugmaker Moderna that it could put four additional doses of the vaccine into each vial.

That solution, announced Friday, could increase the nation’s vaccine supply by as much as 20 percent.

The average number of shots administered daily has been increasing steadily since late December. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday reported more than two million new vaccinations, bringing the latest seven-day average to about 1.66 million a day, well above the Biden administration’s target of 1.5 million. About 35.8 million people have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and about 12.1 million of them have also received the second dose, according to the C.D.C.

On Thursday, the Biden administration announced it had secured enough vaccine doses to inoculate every American adult, with 200 million more doses of vaccine lined up by the end of summer. In total, that would be enough vaccine to cover 300 million people with tens of millions of doses to spare.

But President Biden’s announcement arrived with a caveat. Logistical hurdles most likely mean that many Americans will still not be vaccinated by the end of the summer.

“It was a big mess,” Mr. Biden said on Thursday, expressing frustration with the former administration. “It’s going to take time to fix, to be blunt with you.”

Moderna’s move to put more vaccine into its vials is also not yet a certainty. Federal officials want it to submit more data showing the switch would not compromise vaccine quality. But the continuing discussions are a hopeful sign that the nation’s supply could increase faster than expected, simply by allowing the company to load up to 14 doses in each vial instead of 10.

The limited supply has not been the only problem the Biden administration has faced as it pushes to accelerate vaccinations. Because of logistical hurdles, on Jan. 1 just a quarter of Covid-19 vaccine doses that had already been delivered across the United States had been used. By Friday, that figure had risen to 70 percent.

But many states remain plagued by shortages, as demand far outpaces supply and health care providers struggle to predict how many doses they might receive. ...

On Friday, France’s top health authority said that one dose of vaccine, rather than two, would be sufficient for most people who have recovered from Covid-19. It appears to be the first nation to make such a determination.

According to a study posted online this month, which was not peer reviewed, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York found that Covid survivors had far higher antibody levels after both the first and second doses of the vaccine and might need only one shot. But some scientists have urged caution, warning that more data was needed to prove that those antibodies could effectively stop the virus from replicating. ...