US Close to 800,000 Daily COVID-19 Vaccine Doses

An original version of this article was published by sister publication Contagion.

The US continues to ramp up vaccine administration, with an estimated 12.2 million doses of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine to its population doled out as of January 18, per estimated counts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and University of Oxford.

Late last week, US state and national officials confirmed that the supposed federal reserve of COVID-19 vaccines that was intended for an expanded distribution does not exist.

The Washington Post reported Friday that doses of the vaccines BNT162b2 and mRNA1273 that were declared by Health and Human services Secretary Alex Azar, MD, to be in storage for second-dose administration were actually distributed at the end of December.

Unnamed sources informed the publication that the issuance of vaccines will remain flat in the coming week. This comes at a time when the CDC is reporting that just 36% of the 30.6 million vaccine doses have been administered, a much slower rate that initially anticipated.

Additionally, the CDC has stated that the novel variant of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7, may lead to a large increase in the number of cases, potentially becoming the dominant strain in the US in the coming months. B.1.1.7 has been reported in 76 cases in 10 states, although that number is believed to be much higher. The variant is spreading faster and appears to be more contagious than other COVID-19 strains.

Data TableData per Our World in Data (Jan 18, 2021, 12 AM EST)

New Jersey, the second most densely populated state in the US, has come into the top 10 of vaccines administered since last week after a slow initial rollout.

Data TableData per CDC COVID-19 Tracker (Jan 15, 2021, 9 AM EST)

For more information on COVID-19 vaccination research, distribution, and assessment, check out some of these recent Contagion stories:

J&J COVID-19 Vaccine Shows a 90% Immune Response in Interim Data

CDC Requires All Flyers to US to Test Negative for COVID-19

Trump Administration Recommends Wider Vaccine Eligibility and Vaccinating All Over 65