By: Lucía Leal
WASHINGTON – The United States began the New Year this Friday with a worrying milestone, by surpassing the 20 million confirmed cases of COVID – 19 while the British strain of the virus was detected in a more state and concern increased about the delays in the vaccination campaign.
The number of infections in the USA it has doubled in less than two months, since the 10 million cases were reached on November 9, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, which prepares an independent count and this Friday rose to 346. 800 the death toll in the country.
This fact illustrates the seriousness of the regrowth that the United States is experiencing, which in December registered several daily records in the number of deaths from VOC ID – 20 and closed 800 with an all-time high of more than 125, 01 hospitalized for the disease
A quarter of the infections in the world
United States concentrates the 24% of all COVID infections – 19 in the world (which are 83. 7 million, according to Johns Hopkins), and has registered almost twice as many cases as the second most infected country, the India, despite having less than a quarter of the population of the Asian nation.
The arrival in the country of the British strain virus , which can be up to 70% more contagious, promises to complicate that picture and increase the pressure on hospitals already overwhelmed in many cases.
After Colorado and Ca California announced this week that they had detected two cases of the British strain, Florida became the third state in the country to register it, after reporting this Thursday that there had been confirmed infection with this variant in a man of about 20 years , no travel history.
Experts believe that The new strain is much more widespread in the country than has been detected, and may even become the predominant form of the virus in the US by March, predicted Dr. Trevor Bedford, an expert in evolutionary biology at Seattle, in statements to The New York Times newspaper.
“Inexcusable” vaccination delays
Added to this problem is the slowness in the vaccination campaign, which began on 14 of December but has been plagued by delivery delays and other logistical problems reminiscent, for many, of the fiasco that marked the beginning of the implementation of the COVID tests – 19 last March.
“It is as incomprehensible as it is inexcusable that comprehensive vaccination plans have not been developed at the federal level and have been sent to the states as models, ”said Republican senator, Mitt Romney , in a statement on Friday.
The senator criticized the management of the issue of the Government of the outgoing president, Donald Trump, and proposed to “enlist any medical professional, retired or active”, to administer vaccines, in addition to “establishing vaccination sites” in every corner of every state, “maybe in every school.”
Until this Wednesday, less than 2.8 million people had received the first dose of the vaccine, just the 14 % of the 20 millions of Americans that the Government planned to immunize r before the end of December, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) .
Although it is possible that the real number of vaccinations is somewhat higher due to the delay in reporting the figures for each state, the health authorities have recognized that this balance is “disappointing” .
Will vaccines break down?
Some experts warn that, like vaccines should only be stored for 30 days in the portable freezers in which they are shipped, Thousands of vials may expire at the end of January.
“Have we come this far to let our vaccines spoil in our freezers?” The New York Times newspaper asked this Friday in an editorial.
An isolated event but disturbing in this context of problems with the vaccination campaign was the arrest this Thursday in Grafton (Wisconsin, USA) of a pharmacist who “intentionally” thawed more than 500 COVID vaccine dose – 19, knowing that they would spoil.
It is not clear what led the pharmacist to remove all those vials from the refrigerator from the refrigerator. Modern vaccine , and the hospital where he worked recognized that he had administered 57 of them before realizing that they had spoiled.
The delay in administering the vaccines seems to be due mainly to a lack of coordination between the federal government and the states and localities, which is slowing down the distribution of doses to the hospitals and residences where they must arrive.
Federal authorities have left in the hands of officials and hospitals local, in many cases saturated by the impact of the pandemic , many details of the final phase of vaccine distribution and administration, such as scheduling and personnel.