March 4, 2021
2 mins read

US steps up vaccination efforts

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday the United States would have enough Covid-19 vaccine doses for every adult American by the end of May…reports Asian Lite News

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMMx4yRykoE

With a third Covid-19 vaccine now authorized for emergency use, US states are ramping up vaccination efforts to curb coronavirus transmission and the spread of variants.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

A day later, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the vaccine to be administered for Americans 18 years of age and older.

It is the third Covid-19 vaccine and the first single-dose vaccine authorized in the United States.

The first doses of the Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine were administered Tuesday as initial shipments reached states and vaccination sites.

The other two vaccines available in the country are developed by American drugmaker Pfizer in partnership with German company BioNTech, and by American drugmaker Moderna, respectively.

Joe Biden
Enough vaccine for every adult

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday the United States would have enough Covid-19 vaccine doses for every adult American by the end of May, which would dramatically accelerate his timeline previously set for the end of July.

Biden announced that Johnson & Johnson will partner with Merck to help accelerate its vaccine production. He hailed the partnership as a way to quickly jumpstart the sluggish vaccine production, likening it to cooperation between corporations during World War II.

Biden also announced he was directing states to prioritize teachers in their vaccine distribution plans in a bid to reopen schools.

While the country are accelerating vaccine efforts, some states, including Texas and Mississippi, plan to drop mask mandates and reopen all businesses at 100 per cent capacity.

Biden on Wednesday called it a “big mistake” for states to end mask mandates.

Health experts have cautioned against states reopening too quickly.

The baseline level of coronavirus cases needs to fall further before the country can confidently resume normal activities, even as the vaccine rollout accelerates, said Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert.

Fauci noted that in past periods of the pandemic, “when we started to pull back prematurely, we saw the rebound. We definitely don’t want that to happen.”

Worrisome variants

Experts are also concerned about some worrisome variants that are in places like California and New York.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the variants appear to spread more easily and are contributing to a large fraction of current infections in those areas, adding urgency to the situation.

The variant in California, known as B.1.427/B.1.429, spreads more easily than its predecessors and is now dominant in the state, according to scientists at University of California, San Francisco.

In laboratory tests, it was shown to be less vulnerable to antibodies generated by Covid-19 vaccines or by prior infections, according to researchers.

The United States has recorded over 28.77 million cases with more than 518,900 related deaths as of Wednesday evening, according to the real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Also read:China is a global threat: US

Previous Story

‘Film choreography is more challenging’

Next Story

4th Test: England all out for 205

Latest from -Top News

Pak Army Chief Targets India Again

This is not the first time that Munir has indulged in loose talk, exhibiting conduct unbecoming an officer….reports Asian Lite News Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir on

Relief for Students: US Visa Cancellations Paused

More than 1,500 student visas have been cancelled so far…reports Asian Lite News The United States on Friday abruptly paused the cancellation of student visas issued to international students, according to reports.

Yunus Must Be Treated Like Hasina, Warn Islamists

Islamist group made these warnings to the interim government, terming the women’s reform body proposals as “anti-Islamic…reports Asian Lite News The radical Islamist group in Bangladesh, Hefazat-e-Islam, has issued a threat, stating

UN: Bring Pahalgam Terrorists to Justice

The members of the Security Council “stressed that those responsible for these killings should be held accountable..reports Asian Lite News The Security Council has “condemned in the strongest terms” the Pahalgam terrorist
Go toTop