GoLocal Daily RI Vaccination Update: RI Continues to Fall Behind in Vaccine Administration
Saturday, January 23, 2021
Saturday’s GoLocal vaccination update provides the most up-to-date information and data on the Rhode Island vaccination program as well as emerging national and global developments.
1. AstraZeneca Having Delivery Problems in EU
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe BBC is reporting that AstraZeneca is struggling to hit production promises.
AstraZeneca is now under FDA review for potential Emergency Use Authorization in the United States.
BBC reports:
A second coronavirus vaccine manufacturer has warned of supply issues to the European Union, compounding frustration in the bloc.
AstraZeneca said a production problem meant the number of initial doses available would be lower than expected.
The fresh blow comes after some nations' inoculation programmes were slowed due to a cut in deliveries of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The EU Health Commissioner expressed "deep dissatisfaction" at the news.
Officials have not confirmed publicly how big the shortfall will be, but an unnamed EU official told Reuters news agency that deliveries would be reduced to 31m - a cut of 60% - in the first quarter of this year.
The drug firm had been set to deliver about 80 million doses to the 27 nations by March, according to the official who spoke to Reuters.
The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed with Oxford University, has not yet been approved by the EU's drug regulator but is expected to get the green light at the end of this month, paving the way for jabs to be given.
2. RI Receives More Doses — Percentage of Doses Continues to Fall — Only 45% Used
According to the CDC and updated on Friday, Rhode Island has now:
Received 136,225 doses
Administered 61,974 doses (less than 3,000 administered in past 24-hours)
Of the vaccine doses received, RI has utilized 45% —a drop from 53%, according to the CDC's data.
Updated 1/23/21
3. Global Warnings Issued About New Coronavirus Variants
British public-health officials warned Friday that the new coronavirus variant could be significantly more lethal as well as more contagious. This is raising concerns by U.S. public health experts about a potential significant increase of the infection in late February and March in the United States.
The new variant is now the dominant strain in the U.K. Dr. Michael Fine warns that it is critical that Rhode Islanders step up their effort to control the virus before the new strain becomes a significant factor. The former RI Director of Health, Fine said on GoLocal LIVE on Friday that controlling the virus needs to be the states priority. Last week was one of Rhode Island's deadliest with over 100 Rhode Islanders losing their lives.
The Wall Street Journal reports that "Britain’s top scientific adviser Friday said preliminary studies show it may be between 30% to 40% deadlier than previous variants. The preliminary conclusions from the U.K., based on four separate studies, come as health authorities are expressing heightened concerns about mutations of the virus that could make it more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to vaccines. A variant discovered in South Africa has a mutation that could make current vaccines less effective at preventing it, researchers say. Another in Brazil has raised similar concerns."
