New Cases: 622,482 (⬆︎ .50%)
New Deaths: 10,418 (⬆︎ .38%)
USA
New Cases: 67,046 (⬆︎ .22%)
New Deaths: 1,165 (⬆︎ .21%)
Vaccination Scorecard
Total Vaccinations: 87.3 million (⬆︎ 2.11%)
Total Eligible Population: 32.7%
Total Population: 26.3%
Vaccine disparity is a thing, and in addition to the general weirdnesses pointed out in this Axios piece, it's shaping up to look just like food deserts and environmental racism and healthcare discrimination and the increasing attempts at voter suppression.
We have to make a point of doing a shitload better.
Congratulations! You're about to be eligible to ... wait some more for the vaccine.
The big picture: States are expanding eligibility for COVID vaccines by broad age groups — and some are opening it to all adults. But that doesn't always mean they have enough vaccine supplies to offer appointments to everyone in the new groups.
- So even though the vaccine supplies are ramping up, many local leaders and health officials are trying to lower people's expectations so they don't get disappointed when their long wait for the vaccine isn't actually over.
- That's the reality check many newly eligible people will face throughout the country even as President Biden ups his goal to 200 million shots in his first 100 days.
- "As you add more eligibility, it's going to mean people in some cases will wait longer, because we still don't have the supply we need.”
- After Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan opened vaccinations to everyone 60 and over, Marc Elrich, the county executive of Montgomery County, Md., warned Wednesday that “being told you’re eligible does not mean that when you preregister, that you’re going to get an appointment ... The number of vaccines is behind the number of people who are eligible.”
- “The thing that’s holding us back is just the number of doses," Gary Edwards, executive director of the Salt Lake County health department, told Axios after Utah expanded vaccinations this week to everyone 16 and over.
- “We have staff in clinics ready to do more. They’re not busy enough," he said.
- Here's how Dizhi Marlow, a spokesperson for the Harris County public health department in Texas, described Houston's readiness after the state announced that all adults will be eligible next week: “As of right now, we do not know if we will get more vaccines next week. However, we are preparing to administer more if we get more.”
- And Mitzi Kline, a health department spokesperson in Franklin County, Ohio, which includes Columbus, said, “We do expect the demand to outweigh the supply" after the state opened vaccines to everyone 40 and over and prepares to expand them to all adults next week.
- "We continue to ask residents to be patient as we expect the vaccine supply to continue to increase over the coming weeks," she said.
- "We’re not seeing that people in the [age 50 and over] group are saying, 'I can’t get an appointment anywhere,'" said Quirk. "It makes you think this is a good, progressive way to open it to the age groups."
- So far, 40 states have announced dates when the vaccines will be open to all adults, and most of them are doing it before May 1, according to Jennifer Kates, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation who's tracking the vaccine rollout across the states.
- "It’s going to be a balancing act, and the messaging is going to be very important."
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