Washington (AFP)

The vaccination campaign against Covid-19 in the United States is gaining momentum, officials assured Sunday in the face of criticism of its delays, while rejecting allegations by Donald Trump that the official record in the country is "exaggerated".

The world's leading power, the country most affected by the pandemic, has just crossed the threshold of 350,000 deaths from the coronavirus and has staked everything on a massive and rapid vaccination campaign.

Currently, just over 4.2 million people have received the first dose of one of two vaccines authorized in the country (Pfizer and Moderna), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Trump administration had promised 20 million people vaccinated before the end of 2020.

"There were some dysfunctions," acknowledged on ABC the eminent American immunologist Anthony Fauci, who is advising the government on the health crisis.

The vaccinations began in a difficult context: in full explosion of the number of cases and at the time of the end of year holidays, putting to the test the medical teams, justified on CNN The chief doctor of the United States, Jerome Adams.

The Republican president blamed the local echelons for the delay on Sunday: "the vaccines are distributed to the states by the federal government faster than they can administer them!", He tweeted.

He also claimed that the number of cases, which hit a record again on Saturday with nearly 280,000 new infections in 24 hours, and deaths was "exaggerated" by the CDC, because of a "ridiculous attribution method" .

"The dead are real," replied Anthony Fauci.

"I have no reason to doubt these numbers," said Jerome Adams.

- 500,000 injections per day -

The two officials were optimistic about an acceleration of vaccinations.

"We see (the tempo) quickly picking up," reassured Jerome Adams.

"In the last 72 hours, 1.5 million first injections have been recorded (...), which makes 500,000 per day".

"It's much more than at the beginning," abounded Mr. Fauci.

"We can reach a million a day," he added.

This goal is that of President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office on January 20: the Democrat has promised 100 million doses injected during his first 100 days in office.

If, after the priority people (the elderly, caregivers, etc.), the general population can begin to be vaccinated "at the end of March or the beginning of April", at a rate of at least one million people per day, then immunity collective could be reached "by the end of the summer", according to Mr. Fauci.

Moncef Slaoui, senior official of the American vaccination program "Warp Speed", was also said to be "optimistic", once the holiday season has passed, on an increase in vaccinations.

He also criticized the British decision to postpone the administration of the second dose of vaccine for several weeks, so that as many people as possible receive a first dose.

“Without any data, I don't think it would be responsible,” he said.

Another alternative is being explored for Moderna's vaccine, he said: administer half-doses, twice.

"We know it causes the same immune response," he explained.

© 2021 AFP