United States: the vaccination offensive, successes and challenges
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo at a vaccination center in Queens, February 24, 2021. AP - Seth Wenig
Text by: Achim Lippold Follow
6 mins
The US vaccination campaign continues at a steady pace.
As of Tuesday, April 6, all adult New Yorkers are allowed to be vaccinated.
Last week, President Joe Biden promised that "
by April 19, 90
% of adults will be eligible for vaccination
.
"
And according to him,
"90
% of Americans will have access to a vaccination center within a radius of 8 kilometers around their home."
Is this campaign a success and what are the challenges to be taken up in the coming weeks?
Publicity
Read more
It is a vaccination campaign planned like a military operation.
In the spring of 2020, a real general took control of Operation
Warp Speed
.
With military logistics, it was a question of concentrating all the means allowing to accelerate the development, the production and the distribution of the anti-Covid vaccine.
The advantage of the United States is that it controls the entire chain - from production to distribution of the drug.
On December 12, General Gus Perna, in a martial tone and with historical references that speak to all Americans, proudly announced the start of Operation
Warp Speed
: “
In the next 24 hours, the vaccine will be sent from the sites. of Pfizer production at the hubs of the transport company UPS and the Federal Post.
"Gus Perna even spoke of" D-Day ", in reference to the Normandy landings in 1944:"
At the time, D-Day was the beginning of the end.
Today we are in exactly the same situation.
"
Gen.
Gustave Perna calls beginning of vaccine distribution "D-Day," invoking WWII.
"D-Day, in military, designates 'the day the mission begins.'
... D-Day was the beginning of the end and that's where we are today. "
https://t.co/6efBteFljN pic.twitter.com/MzRWLJUnyn
- This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 12, 2020
Operation "
Warp Speed
", a success?
Almost 30% of the American population has already received at least one injection.
In total, over 160 million doses have been administered.
According to Sarah Rozenblum, a public health researcher at the University of Michigan, the success of the vaccination campaign is partly due to a public-private partnership between the federal government, the military, Fema (the federal agency for the management of aid) and several local actors: "
The army does play an important role in the distribution of the vaccine and can requisition a certain number of places such as amusement parks, car parks, American football stadiums to transform them into centers of temporary vaccination.
"
The problem is that these “
vaccinodromes
” do not attract many people.
The government therefore had to review its strategy and seek local solutions.
“
The Biden administration has entered into partnerships with major brands, businesses located in the city center and equipped with pharmacy
,” explains Sarah Rozenblum.
The idea is to administer the vaccines in these pharmacies which are backed by small businesses close to where people live.
In the coming days, the number of pharmacies authorized to vaccinate Americans will increase from 17,000 to 40,000.
The Lumen Field event center in Seattle converted into a "vaccinodrome" where doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech anti-Covid-19 vaccine are administered, March 13, 2021. AP - Ted S. Warren
"
We must speak with those who do not want to be vaccinated
"
According to Nathalie Davis, from the United States of Care NGO, which campaigns for access to the health care system for all Americans, treating physicians or pharmacists play a key role in the vaccination campaign: “
It is they and not the politicians who can convince the still reluctant people to get vaccinated.
If the resistance of certain groups such as Latinos or African-Americans begins to decline, it is still high among the Republican voter.
About one in two Conservative supporters do not want to be vaccinated yet.
“
You have to seek dialogue with people, try to convince them with arguments and facts.
And having a vaccination center near them,
”explains Brian Castrucci, head of the De Beaumont Foundation, which is committed to a better health policy.
I had to consult seven websites to make an appointment, and to drive an hour to get to the vaccination center.
And I am a health expert.
So imagine the obstacles for a "normal" person or a migrant.
"
►
To listen: United States: "The share of anti-vaccines is constantly decreasing"
Guarantee equal access to the vaccine
According to Tom Frieden, president of the organization "
Resolve to safe lives"
and former head of the New York City Department of Health, the main challenge for the
Biden
administration
is to ensure equality in the workplace. access to the vaccine.
"
Black and Latino communities are vaccinated half as quickly as white Americans,
" he says.
The lack of access to vaccines is more serious in his eyes than the reluctance of some to be vaccinated: there will be a momentum, he assures, the more people are vaccinated, the more resistance will decrease.
“
What really worries me,
deplores Tom Frieden,
is that there is no equitable access to the vaccine.
This can cause new contaminations in certain neighborhoods, with the addition of new variants.
“In recent days, contaminations have actually started to rise again, with an average of more than 60,000 cases per day.
An
increase
due, according to experts, to a relaxation of barrier gestures.
►
Read also: Covid-19: the United States relaxes its restrictions despite a risk of a new peak
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
United States
Joe biden
Vaccines
Coronavirus
On the same subject
Covid-19: United States relaxes restrictions despite risk of another peak
United States: Texas opens vaccination to all
Covid-19 in the United States: vaccination continues, so does the rise in infections