5:37
- ABC News
- March 2, 2021
CDC director fears states could reopen too soon
Over the last week, the daily number of cases and deaths has leveled off.
On Monday, 3.9 million doses of the newest vaccine, which only requires one dose compared to the double doses required for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, shipped out. Sixteen million more doses will be available by the end of March, though the White House prepared states for an uneven distribution in the first few weeks as the company gets their production off the ground.
And as of Monday, 50 million Americans had received at least one dose of the other vaccines available, Pfizer and Moderna, according to the White House.
All three vaccines are safe and efficacious against the virus and its variants, including the B.1.1.7 variant, which was originally discovered in the U.K. The variant is about 50% more transmissible and scientists expect it to be the dominant strain in the U.S. by mid-March, making the race to vaccinate a majority of Americans more urgent.
.@GStephanopoulos: \"Bottom line, if you're offered a vaccine, whichever one you're offered, you should take it?\"
— ABC News (@ABC) March 1, 2021
White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci: \"Absolutely, George.\" https://t.co/WKSxjqEpfa pic.twitter.com/4osnkMr68l
The White House urged Americans to get whatever vaccine is available to them when it's their turn.
\"All three vaccines have been proven safe, highly effective, at preventing severe disease and hospitalizations and death from COVID-19 after full immunity,\" said Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, the chair of the White House health equity task force.
\"And if I could leave people with one message, it is this -- get vaccinated. With the first vaccine available to you. Protect yourself, your family and your community from COVID-19,\" she said.
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