Over a Dozen States Start Offering Vaccines to All Adults as CDC Releases Promising Data
More than a dozen states will open vaccine eligibility to all adults this week in a major expansion of COVID-19 shots for tens of millions of Americans.
Meanwhile, a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were 90 percent effective after two doses.
States opening eligibility to anyone ages 16 and older on Monday included Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ohio, North Dakota and Kansas.
Vaccination rates in Texas have lagged behind much of the U.S., and although state officials put part of the blame on delays in data reporting, they also acknowledged that appointment slots are going unfilled.
Demand “has definitely decreased over the past couple of weeks,” according to Imelda Garcia, head of the state’s vaccine allocation panel.
Texas is supposed to receive more than 1 million new doses this week. On Monday, the state launched a new online vaccine scheduler and phone number.
In Kansas, where some local health officials have said they are also struggling to find people to vaccinate, an additional 400,000 people are now eligible for shots. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has been criticized by Republicans for a slow, unorganized vaccine rollout.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has said the state will soon have enough shots for everyone who wants one.
Some counties in Illinois are being allowed to expand eligibility to everyone this week if they find doses are going unused. But in Chicago, the vaccine will not be available to everyone until at least May 1 because the city does not have enough shots on hand.
Minnesota expanded eligibility on Tuesday, followed by Indiana and South Carolina on Wednesday, Connecticut and Montana on Thursday, and New Hampshire and Colorado on Friday.
In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that residents over 30 will be eligible for vaccinations starting Tuesday, and everyone over 16 can sign up starting April 6.
In Connecticut, officials said “priority access” will be given to people with high medical risks or developmental disabilities once everyone 16 and up is eligible.
California officials said the state can now administer 3 million shots a week, and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has predicted that number will climb to 4 million by the end of April, when everybody 16 and older will be offered the vaccine.
The CDC’s first study of the real-world use of the vaccines found that their effectiveness was nearly as robust as it was in controlled studies.
“This is very reassuring news,” Mark Thompson, the study’s lead author, said. “We have a vaccine that’s working very well.”
The study included roughly 2,500 volunteers who had completed two vaccine doses, about 500 who got one dose and about 1,000 who did not get vaccinated between mid-December and mid-March.
The researchers recorded 205 infections, with 161 of them in the unvaccinated group. Of the remaining 44, the CDC said 33 of them were in people apparently infected within two weeks of a shot. It takes two weeks before a dose takes full effect.
No one died, and only two were hospitalized. Thompson did not say whether the people hospitalized were vaccinated or not.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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