COVID-19 Vaccine Update

Adam Bear, Staff Writer

In recent weeks, multiple new developments have come up surrounding the topic of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The first is from the U.S. President, Joseph Biden, who has now pledged to administer 200 million COVID-19 vaccinations in his first 100 days in office. Before coming into office, Biden’s pledge was 100 million in the first 100 days, and he later raised it to 150 million in January. To reach a goal of 200 million, 73 million more doses of the vaccine have to be administered, and with 32 days left in the 100-day goal, a daily average of 2.2 million doses must be met. This seems to be achievable since the current daily average is 2.7 million doses.

The United States government sent Mexico 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to help meet the shortage in Mexico. The AstraZeneca vaccine has yet to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

AstraZeneca has revised its vaccine’s efficacy rate, lowering it to being 76% effective at preventing symptomatic disease. The updated report maintains that the vaccine is 100% effective against stopping severe disease and hospitalizations.

Pfizer has begun trials on children ages 5-11 in hopes of getting the vaccine approved for children. No vaccines have been approved for people under 16 yet, but Moderna has also begun trials with children.