Today, President Biden will announce the United States plans to buy half a billion doses of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine to donate to more than 90 countries. His administration is also negotiating with Moderna. Health experts warn vaccination inequity could prolong the pandemic if the coronavirus continues to mutate, possibly making it more infectious and resistant to vaccines.
This comes as many Americans are refusing to get vaccinated, and thousands, if not millions, of Johnson & Johnson shots will expire soon, including some 200,000 doses of the vaccine in Ohio alone. Top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci acknowledged Tuesday the U.S. is struggling to meet Biden’s goal of vaccinating 70% of Americans by July 4th.
the healthcare workers have been offered the COVID-19 vaccine starting December, so it’s been an uncomfortable reality to see that, you know, we are now in June and nearly 50% of healthcare workers remain unvaccinated, unprotected. And so, this is certainly a dilemma, not just here in the United States, but around the world.
Some of the reasons that we found that healthcare workers are hesitant are the same reasons we find in the general public. And this is the newness of the vaccines or the long-term side effects. And so, when we talk about vaccine hesitancy, we need to address it in all its forms and facets, for healthcare workers along with the general public. The strategies and the tactics continue, which includes education, but also includes making strong recommendations
— source democracynow.org | Jun 10, 2021