'Screaming My Head Off' For More: States Plead For Vaccine Boost

ACROSS AMERICA — As shortages continue to cause appointment cancellations amid the slower-than-expected vaccine rollout in the United States, the Biden administration is ramping up the federal government's vaccine distribution to states. The move comes as officials in a number of states are voicing concerns on the lack of supply.

"I'm screaming my head off" for more, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice told The Associated Press.

West Virginia is among the states with the best rates of administering the vaccine, according to a Bloomberg COVID-19 vaccine tracker that shows how states compare.

Only a little more than half of the 44 million vaccine doses that have been distributed to states have been used, according to a report from The Associated Press.

Now, the Biden administration says states will have an approximately 17 percent boost in vaccines next week. This follows complaints around the U.S. of shortages so severe that some vaccination sites had to cancel tens of thousands of appointments with people waiting for their first shot.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the Sunshine State is "at the mercy of what the federal government sends us" and can't meet growing demand from residents.

Detailed figures posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website Tuesday showed that the government plans to make about 10.1 million first and second doses available next week, up from this week's allotment of 8.6 million, the AP reported. The figures represent doses of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The Latest

As many as 90,000 Americans are projected to die from the coronavirus in the next four weeks. That's the projection made by the Biden administration's coronavirus response team made during its first daily briefing on the pandemic Wednesday afternoon.

If accurate, that would mean that the virus's death toll in the United States would surpass 500,000 before the end of February.

Wednesday’s briefing was conducted virtually, rather than in person at the White House, to allow for questions from health journalists and to maintain a set timing no matter the situation in the West Wing, The Associated Press reported. But it was not without technical glitches.

It featured Jeff Zients, the Biden administration’s coordinator for pandemic response; his deputy, Andy Slavitt; Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert; Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, the chair of Biden’s COVID-19 equality task force; and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The White House respects and will follow the science, and the scientists will speak independently,” Slavitt said.

The White House briefings return came a day after a lawmaker in Georgia was removed from the State House in Atlanta for not agreeing to coronavirus testing protocols, The New York Times reported. Republican Rep. David Clark was asked to leave by Rep. David Ralston, another Republican, after Clark refused to take a test, the Times reported.

Clark told The Times he was upset about the ability of members of the State House to be tested while many Americans are unable to get a test, citing that as a reason for not getting the required test.

“I don’t know about y’all but I’ve been to too many funerals — and I’m tired of going to them,” Ralston said after ordering Clark removed, according to The Times.

Lower virus numbers have led to some states lifting coronavirus-related restrictions — such as California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom abruptly lifted the state's regional stay-at-home order earlier this week.

Other states are taking a more-cautious approach to reopening as the more-contagious coronavirus variants identified first in the United Kingdom and South Africa become increasingly found in the United States.

As Michigan's coronavirus rate dropped to the nation's fifth-lowest over the last two weeks, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said bars and restaurants can welcome indoor customers next week for the first time in 2 1/2 months, according to the AP. But they will be under a 10 p.m. curfew and will be limited to 25 percent of capacity, or half of what was allowed the last time she loosened their restrictions, in June.

The state previously authorized the resumption of in-person classes at high schools and the partial reopening of movie theaters.

"We're in a stronger position because we've taken this pause," Whitmer said. "But we are also very mindful of the fact that this variant is now here in Michigan. It poses a real threat."

Newsom, a Democrat, defended his abrupt decision to drop restrictions against accusations by Republican elected officials in the state who questioned whether politics led to him making the call.

The governor insisted it was science, not politics, that led to his decision.

"We are in a position — projecting four weeks forward with a significant decline in the case rates, positivity rates — we are anticipating still more decline in hospitalizations and more declines in ICUs, and that's why we're lifting that stay-at-home order effective immediately today," Newsom said.

The nationwide push to reopen schools for in-person learning took another step forward Tuesday, when a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researcher wrote in a JAMA Network journal that preventing the spread of the virus in schools is possible with widespread mask-wearing and social distancing. But the same report says restrictions on indoor dining are among the ways to keep community spread low.

Data shows "that schools were not associated with accelerating community transmission," according to the report authored by Margaret A. Honein of the CDC.

Newest Numbers

At least 3,752 deaths and 147,197 new cases of coronavirus were reported in the United States on Tuesday, according to a Washington Post database. The Post's reporting shows that over the past week, new daily cases have fallen 16.4 percent, new daily deaths have risen 10.4 percent and COVID-19-related hospitalizations have fallen 10.4 percent.

Currently, 108,957 people are hospitalized with a coronavirus-related illness in the United States, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

As of Wednesday, 40 states and U.S. territories remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the United States had reported more than 25.5 million cases and more than 426,900 deaths from COVID-19-related illnesses, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or The Washington Post.

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