North American Observation丨It’s too early for the U.S. to count on vaccines to overcome the epidemicFly into the homes of ordinary people
On December 18, local time, Modena’s emergency use authorization application for the new crown vaccine was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), becoming the second approved new crown vaccine. The previously approved Pfizer vaccine has started vaccination work on the 15th local time, and the first batch of vaccines is mainly for medical staff.
However, in recent days, vaccine safety issues have exploded one after another, especially the three consecutive cases of adverse reactions among vaccinators in Alaska. Public opinion in the United States has expressed great concern about this.
△American Broadcasting Corporation reported that on December 18, local time, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the emergency use authorization application for Modena’s vaccine
Frequent vaccination problems
According to CNN, there have been three consecutive cases of adverse reactions among medical staff in Alaska after receiving Pfizer vaccines.
The first case occurred on the 15th. A local medical staff experienced allergic reactions such as rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath and skin rash 10 minutes after vaccination. The second case occurred on the 16th. Also 10 minutes after the vaccination, the vaccinated had swollen eyes, dizziness, and itchy throat. The hospital believes that the second case is by no means a simple “allergic reaction.” The third incident occurred on the 17th. A clinician also developed allergic symptoms, including tongue swelling, hoarseness, and difficulty breathing 10 minutes after being vaccinated with the new crown vaccine on the same day, and was immediately sent to the hospital for treatment.
△CNN reported on the 17th that two medical staff in Alaska had adverse reactions after being vaccinated
The FDA had previously reminded that Pfizer vaccine and Modena vaccine may cause adverse reactions, and said that it should be alert to allergic reactions and facial nerve palsy. The FDA pointed out in a report released on December 15 that in the Phase III clinical trials of Pfizer and Modena, 4 subjects each developed symptoms of facial nerve palsy, and the subjects were usually 22 days after vaccination. Such symptoms appear between 32 days and the cause is not yet clear.
In addition, due to the harsh transportation conditions of Pfizer vaccines, there have been a number of vaccine scrap incidents recently, and many states cannot get the original number of vaccines. General Gustaf Pena, who is in charge of the vaccine project of the federal government, revealed on the 16th local time that in a batch of Pfizer vaccines shipped to California, the temperature of two pallets dropped to minus 92 degrees Celsius during transportation, which is below the standard temperature of minus. 80 degrees Celsius. The delivery of this batch of vaccines has been urgently stopped. Similarly, vaccines sent to Alabama and New Mexico also experienced similar situations during transportation. Experts said that if the temperature abnormality is not detected in time, the vaccinators may have unpredictable adverse reactions.
△CNN reported on the 18th that there was a third case of adverse reactions among medical staff in Alaska after vaccination.
The rich and giant companies compete for priority vaccination privileges
Despite the endless security issues, the newly launched vaccines still show great temptation, attracting the wealthy Americans to use various forces to try to obtain priority inoculation privileges.
“Los Angeles Times” broke the news about multiple attempts to purchase vaccines at high prices. Some people even went directly to the hospital to ask if they could get a dose of vaccine if they donated $250,000. Experts reminded that some medical staff responsible for vaccination may use their duties to obtain vaccines and sell them at high prices on the black market. In addition, because the wealthy Americans enjoy more expensive medical services, they would have received vaccines earlier than ordinary people.
△ “Los Angeles Times” reported that wealthy Americans are competing for the new crown vaccine at high prices in the market
In addition to individuals who use their economic power to obtain priority vaccination privileges, some large companies and consortia in the United States are also trying to obtain vaccines early.
Recently, Amazon in the United States has been exposed to lobbying for the Centers for Disease Control, trying to include its employees on the list of “essential staff”, so as to get the vaccine earlier than ordinary people. Moreover, according to the Wall Street Journal, the CDC has received similar applications from multiple giant companies in the catering, aviation, and real estate industries.
In fact, bank employees have already booked the priority vaccination location in advance through this method. Public opinion has strongly criticized this, and believes that the CDC’s placement of bank employees before teachers and nursing home care workers is the result of the government’s capital penetration.
△”The Wall Street Journal” reported that Amazon is lobbying the government to try to get the vaccine early
Medical staff and people are not willing to be vaccinated
However, despite the unscrupulous competition between the wealthy and the big companies for vaccination privileges, medical staff have greatly reduced their willingness to vaccinate due to successive adverse reactions.
The University of California, Los Angeles conducted an investigation of local medical staff and found that many medical staff have reservations about vaccines. Two-thirds of medical staff hope to postpone vaccination or are unwilling to vaccinate; more than half believe that pressure from the federal government has led to too hasty vaccine research and development, which has greatly reduced their trust in vaccines.
△ CBS reports that most medical staff want to postpone vaccination
In addition to medical staff, ordinary people are not willing to be vaccinated. A report recently released by the Pew Research Center of the United States shows that nearly 40% of Americans still say that they will not receive the new crown vaccine. In addition, compared with other ethnic groups, African Americans are more worried about vaccines, and the proportion of this group who is unwilling to get vaccinated is close to 60%.
The American people, especially medical staff, have such a low willingness to vaccinate, which will bring great challenges to the future prevention and control of the new crown epidemic. Because if you want to rely on vaccines for herd immunity, at least 75% to 85% of the population needs to be vaccinated.
Experts believe that when vaccine problems occur one after another and the people’s willingness to vaccinate is low, the United States still faces great difficulties in the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic. It is obviously impossible to rely on vaccines to overcome the epidemic in the short term.
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