A wind of optimism continued to blow on Wednesday March 10 in the United States, where Joe Biden said he wanted to buy 100 million additional doses of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine against Covid-19.

More than 93 million injections have been carried out in the country, where three vaccines are now authorized: that of Johnson & Johnson (only one dose needed per person), and those of the Pfizer / BioNTech alliance and Moderna (two doses ).

More than 2 million injections are administered on average each day.

The United States has already placed enough orders to receive enough doses by the end of May to immunize all American adults.

So far, 100 million doses have been ordered from Johnson & Johnson - which should provide them by the end of May according to the Ministry of Health - and 600 million from Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech (300 each, delivered by the end July).

And Joe Biden has demanded that a contract for 100 million more doses be negotiated with Johnson & Johnson.

"We need maximum flexibility," the president said on Wednesday after a meeting with executives from Johnson & Johnson and Merck, who announced last week that they had reached an agreement to produce the vaccine.

"A lot of things can happen, we have to be ready", he argued, adding that if the United States found itself with "a surplus, (they) share it (have) with the rest of the world".

Texas restrictions lifted

Vaccination is also gradually opening up to new categories of the population.

Alaska became the first US state on Wednesday for all people 16 and over, without restrictive criteria.

In New York, people aged 60 and over can now be vaccinated without other conditions (risk factors, employees deemed "essential", etc.).

Likewise in Florida, from March 15, announced the governor.

Meanwhile, the lifting of restrictions in Texas took effect on Wednesday: no more mandatory masks in public and reopening of all businesses without limitations.

Some point to premature easing, others are delighted.

Locally, some cities like Austin, the state capital, have decided that the wearing of masks will remain mandatory.

"If state officials don't want to do their job in this pandemic, we will do it ourselves," city councilor Gregorio Casar tweeted.

Some establishments also intend to continue to impose the mask on their employees and customers.

Experts warn that the level of circulation of the disease remains far too high to relax.

They also warn of the approach of spring break, which will lead to more travel, and the rapid spread of variants.

Optimism

The governor's measure, however, is emblematic of a growing sense that things are working out in the United States.

After remaining stable for some time, the number of daily cases (56,000 on average over the past seven days) could again be "trending down", said Rochelle Walensky, director of the main federal health agency on Wednesday. country's public (CDC).

The number of daily deaths over the past week has risen to 1,600 on average, against 2,000 in recent weeks.

Other states have made the same choice as Texas, such as Mississippi.

In the very rural state of Wyoming as well, exit the masks, and reopen bars, restaurants and cinemas from next week, announced the governor.

In Los Angeles and Southern California, theaters and indoor restaurants are expected to be partially reopened starting this weekend. 

In Maryland, a state adjacent to the capital Washington, the mask remains in place but capacity restrictions for restaurants and many other businesses will be lifted on Friday.

With AFP

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