COVID19 Update - Day 285

US Tests: 198,192,356*

US Cases: 17,647,893*

US Deaths: 309,449*

Worldwide Cases: 76,778,818*

Worldwide Deaths: 1,692,578*

* - Numbers are a lower bound.  True numbers are being suppressed by the Trump administration

More caution on the vaccination front:

As Pfizer vaccine doses began arriving across the U.S. last week, HHS Secretary Alex Azar predicted on Monday that healthy Americans could begin to get vaccinated in the coming months. But an official with the administration’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine effort contradicted Azar on Thursday, saying the vaccine could be more widely available in the late spring or summer.

Murthy’s timeline puts the date for widespread vaccinations even later. 

“If everything goes well, then we may see a circumstance where by late spring, you know, people who are in lower-risk categories can get this vaccine, but that would really require everything to go exactly on schedule,” Murthy said.

The vaccine distribution has hit some early snags, as states last week reported that the federal government slashed their allocation of doses. Meanwhile, Pfizer said it has millions of doses waiting on warehouse shelves. Medical supply chain experts expressed bewilderment at the situation.

“When vaccines get produced and they remain in the warehouse, that means something went wrong with the supply chain,” Lee said. “That it was not coordinated,” CUNY Professor Bruce Y. Lee told TPM.

An Army general coordinating the vaccine rollout took responsibility for the confusion on Saturday.

Hoping for the best, obviously.  But we have to keep in mind that the gang who can't shoot straight is in charge for another month, and then there will be at least another month of chaos as the Biden administration settles in.

At least the new (and far overdue) #TrumpVirus relief bill includes funding for vaccine distribution, which is helpful.

Keep wearing those masks and socially distancing!