2024-04-17 16:55:34
Text: Darcy Borrero
In the last few hours, United States authorities revealed details of the national plan to immunize millions of people against COVID-19 from the end of this month onwards. Likewise, the northern nation should have 60 to 70 million doses per month in January, between the Pfizer and Moderna Inc. vaccines, as announced at an event held by The Washington Post.
Those prioritized in the distribution queue for these vaccines could be about 21 million health care workers and 3 million residents in long-term care facilities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in a context in which some 4.36 million people were infected in November.
However, the chief adviser to the Operation Warp Speed program said — and Reuters reports — that 20 million people could be vaccinated by the end of 2020, and that by the middle of next year most Americans will have access to highly effective vaccines.
What will happen to Latinos, Afro-descendants and immigrant communities is a key question in this scenario, when November closed with more than double the number of new cases than in the previous month (October), and this is linked to the fact that many Americans refused to use masks and traveled despite the recommendations of the health authorities.
For his part, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo criticized a data delivery agreement presented by the government that he believes could “deter undocumented immigrants from receiving the vaccine.”
He also denounced the lack of federal funds for the distribution of the vaccine. Meanwhile, Latin television stations assure that the country once again broke records for new coronavirus infections and hospitalizations, and they assume that neither Latinos nor African Americans will be prioritized.
Dr. Elmer Huerta, a public health expert, explained to CNN this Monday who will be the first groups to receive the vaccine, what the distribution that is needed will be like to maintain “the new normal.”
The FDA is expected to approve the existing vaccines on December 10, said the doctor, and pointed out that on October 2, the National Academy of Sciences and Medicine of the United States published a report on the consensus of experts so that the first people in receive the vaccines are those who have been on the front line in hospitals, in nursing homes, those who provide home care, those who work as first responders, as well as those who provide associated, food and other services. Also, people with previous illnesses that may predispose them to covid19 will have priority. And then, progressively, adults, young people and finally children will be vaccinated, since there are still no doses for children.
Likewise, he referred to the effectiveness of the different immunizations and gave his projections of when the country would return to the so-called “life before.”
Vaccine reliability
Understanding that there may be people who are concerned about getting vaccinated against COVID-19 in the United States, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) page announced that while “although these vaccines are being developed as quickly as possible, “The processes and procedures that guarantee the safety of any vaccine that receives authorization or approval for use remain in force.”
“Safety is the top priority, and there are many reasons to get vaccinated,” the CDC stated.
As proof of reliability, the last three US presidents, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, have volunteered to be publicly immunized and thus promote American confidence in the safety of the drug, once approved. by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
For example, Barack Obama said in an interview that airs this Thursday with SiriusXM host Joe Madison — and has already been quoted by Univision — that a coronavirus vaccine is safe, he believes him and that is why he is willing to put it publicly if necessary, so that people trust this immunization.
Meanwhile, while the FDA is waiting to approve the vaccines for subsequent distribution, local media report that the US federal government purchased 650,000 additional doses of Bamlanivimab, Eli Lilly’s monoclonal antibody against the coronavirus, which increases the purchase total to 950,000 treatments.
“These antibodies are an engineered version of a protein from the human immune system and obtained emergency use authorization from the FDA last month, after clinical trials showed their efficiency in preventing severe Covid-19,” Univision reported.