Demand for Covid vaccines continues to wane in the U.S., where states are requesting small fractions of their allotted doses from the Federal Government to save them from having to throw misused doses away. The Guardian has the story.
Reduced demand, which is contributing to a growing stockpile of doses, comes as nearly 46% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of a two-shot vaccine and about 34% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
Last week, Joe Biden announced a plan to get at least one dose of vaccine administered to 70% of the nation’s adult population by July 4th – a date also floated for a full-economic and social interaction re-opening of America.
But on Saturday, hours before a pre-recorded message from Biden to a Global Citizen Vax Live event, it was reported that the nation’s vaccination rate dropped to two million shots a day – a 20% decrease from the week before…
Reports that many states are requesting that the Biden administration send them only a fraction of their allocations is a clear indication of persistent vaccine hesitancy in the U.S..
According to the Associated Press, Wisconsin health officials have asked for just 8% of the 162,680 doses that had been set aside for the state next week. Julie Willems Van Dijk, a State Health Department official, has said demand is softening and vaccinators are reducing existing inventories before ordering more doses.
Iowa health officials have requested 29% of the state’s allotment. Kansas officials asked for 9%, as the state has about 647,000 doses on hand; and Illinois officials says the state has five weeks’ worth of doses on hand and plans to cut its request, also to 9%. Similar patterns were reported by Connecticut – 26% – and South Carolina, 21%. North Carolina and Washington have reduced their requests by 40%.
But some states are maintaining full orders, including Maryland and Colorado. New York City is taking its full quota despite seeing the number of daily shots administered drop by about 40% since a mid-April peak.
Unused doses are expected to be allocated to states with higher demands.
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