The biggest vaccination campaign in American history kicks off
At the University of Louisville Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, December 14, 2020. REUTERS - BRYAN WOOLSTON
Text by: Stefanie Schüler Follow
5 mins
This Monday marks the start of a new chapter in the fight against the Covid-19 epidemic in the United States: the vaccine developed by the American laboratory Pfitzer has been administered since this morning.
It is the start of the biggest vaccination campaign in the history of the United States.
The first to benefit was a New York nurse.
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The event was broadcast
live
on social media;
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was virtually present and visibly moved: At 9:30 a.m. Sandra Lindsay was vaccinated against Covid-19 at Long Island Jewish Medical Center.
This is where the young African American woman works in the intensive care unit.
A few moments later, Donald Trump exclaimed on
: “
First vaccine administered.
Congratulations the United States, congratulations the world
”.
After the scientific feat, the logistical feat
BNT 162b2, the scientific name for the product, was authorized across the Atlantic as recently as Friday.
To be able to start the vaccination on Monday, it took a real logistical feat.
And it is not for nothing that some American soldiers compare this operation already - all things considered, of course - to the American landing in Normandy.
Of the 100 million injections pre-purchased by the federal government, just over 6 million are currently available on American soil.
This weekend, the first doses left the Pfizer plant in Michigan.
They will be transported this week in trucks and on board 20 planes per day across the country.
Each box sent contains 4,700 injections.
But for the vaccine to be effective, it must be kept at -70 degrees.
The doses are therefore transported in dry ice.
Under no circumstances should the cold chain be interrupted
.
Medical staff and retirement homes first beneficiaries
The people vaccinated during this first phase are first of all people like Sandra Lindsay, namely the health staff on the front line in the fight against the Covid-19 epidemic: doctors, nurses, nursing assistants.
Since the vaccine can cause side effects, such as fever and body aches, the hospitals involved have specific planning in place to ensure continuity of care.
Towards the end of the week, the first doses of the vaccine should also arrive in nursing homes.
In all 3 million people will be vaccinated during this first phase.
And all will receive a second injection three weeks later.
White House staff should also have been among the first beneficiaries.
But Donald Trump, to everyone's surprise, decided otherwise last night.
► To read also: Covid-19: kickoff in the United States of the vaccination operation
Governors demand federal dollars to organize vaccination sites
The first injections will be done these days in some 600 hospitals and medical centers across the United States.
Ultimately, it is the States which must organize the vaccination sites.
And precisely, their governors are already worried: we will have to hire medical staff, ensure the storage capacity of vaccines, organize awareness campaigns.
All this is expected to cost several billion dollars, as the federal states face economic difficulties due to the health crisis.
Some leaders fear they will have to make difficult budgetary choices: for example, sacrificing education for the benefit of immunization capacity.
The arrival of the vaccine is not yet the end of the tunnel
For many Americans, this new phase in the fight against Covid-19 is in any case finally a sign of hope.
Although according to many experts, the situation is likely to worsen before reaching the end of the tunnel.
Nearly 300,000 people have died in the United States from the virus.
And by February the epidemic could claim 150,000 additional victims.
Because firstly, with the arrival of the vaccine, the Americans risk letting their guard down.
And second, to be able to truly control the spread of Covid-19, at least 75% of the American population must be vaccinated.
This threshold will be reached next June at the earliest.
It should also be taken into account that 2 in 10 Americans do not want to be vaccinated.
To convince them, a major public awareness campaign will be launched this week across the United States.
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