Although containing COVID remains a challenge, particularly as more transmissible strains of the virus spread throughout the country, Fauci predicts things will turn around shortly. “I can tell you that things are going to get better as we get from February into March, into April,” Fauci said on a Feb. 7 appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press. “The number of vaccine doses that will be available will increase substantially.” Fauci said the main obstacle to vaccinating more people right now is the lack of available vaccines for people who want them, but he believes that issue be sorted out in the next month. “Even though there’s a clear, clear discrepancy between the demand and the supply, that will get better as we get through February and into March,” Fauci said. And for more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. The predicted change in the pace at which the U.S. is able to inoculate people will stem from a couple of key shifts in the vaccine supply. “Not only will there be more Moderna and Pfizer doses as we get through March and April, but then we’re going to be getting J&J [Johnson & Johnson] or Janssen online,” Fauci noted.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb Having more vaccines to distribute will speed up the vaccination process, especially because Johnson & Johnson is only a single-dose shot, which will half the time it takes for some of the population to gain COVID immunity. On Feb. 4, Johnson & Johnson announced they applied for Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their vaccine. And for more on that vaccine, These Are the Side Effects of the New Johnson & Johnson Vaccine. CNBC reported that on Jan. 25, President Joe Biden announced he would be aiming for the U.S. to be administering 1.5 million vaccines per day. “I think, with the grace of God, and the goodwill of the neighbor, and the creek not rising, as the old saying goes, I think we may be able to get that to 1.5 million a day, rather than 1 million a day,” Biden said. “But we have to meet that goal of a million a day.” According to The Washington Post, on Feb. 6, nearly 2 million doses of vaccine were administered, which upped the country’s daily average to 1.4 million. And for essential vaccine guidance, Dr. Fauci Says Don’t Do This After Your First COVID Shot. On Jan. 22, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report that estimated the U.K. strain of COVID would become dominant in the U.S. by the end of March. As this more transmissible strain of COVID picks up its pace, so does the vaccine effort. “We really are in a race against new variants,” Wan Yang, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, told NBC. “We need to prepare as much as possible before things increase to a level that puts more strain on our healthcare systems.” And for more harrowing news on the future of the pandemic, President Biden Just Gave This Bleak COVID Update.
