Look at that, it’s the day we kick ol’ Whohizface out of office and already we have good news spreading throughout the land! This ray of hope comes courtesy of America’s M.D., Dr. Anthony Fauci. Appearing on Meet the Press last Sunday, Dr. Fauci not only cleared up whatever miscommunication caused a surplus of doses of the vaccine to be withheld from US citizens, he said that two new vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca may be approved within a few weeks and not months as originally thought. They might even begin the process within the next week.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation’s foremost public health experts, said Sunday that the U.S. is “weeks away, not months away” from considering the approval of new coronavirus vaccines.
In an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who will be staying on as President-elect Joe Biden’s chief science adviser, said he was optimistic that the vaccine candidates being made by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca can be fully evaluated soon.
“I would imagine within a period of a week or so, or at the most, a couple of weeks, they’re going to be getting their data together and showing it to the FDA,” Fauci said of the two pharmaceutical companies.
“They’re going to have to get their data and safety monitoring board to look at it to see if it is appropriate to start, you know, essentially putting the package together to get an emergency use authorization. But we’re weeks away, not months away, for sure.”
The Food and Drug Administration has already approved two vaccines, from Moderna and Pfizer, for emergency use. While both those approved vaccines, as well as the one being developed by AstraZeneca, require two shots spaced out weeks apart, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine needs only one.
This is nothing short of fantastic news. Not only that there will probably be four vaccines available soon, but that a competent administration will be overseeing their dispersal. As the article stated, Dr. Fauci is staying on as President Biden’s chief science advisor and since this administration will actually listen to recommendations, we can expect to see some real progress. As an example: the doses that were held back by the Trump administration. Dr. Fauci is being generous by saying there was a ‘misunderstanding’ in what was recommended in distributing them. He said General Gustave Perna, Trump’s rollout guy, thought he was supposed to hold back doses to make sure everyone who got a first dose got a second. It’s possible, but even so, that miscommunication was probably the result of those in charge not listening or not reading the information given to them. But now the existing vaccines are being distributed properly and there’s back up on the way. We will finally get this ship back on course.
And not a minute too soon. As you know, we surpassed 400,000 deaths in this country yesterday. I can only speak for California, but our vaccine rollout has been an utter mess. I have no idea what is going on, nor does it seem does anyone one else. I don’t even know who to get mad at. It’s so bad I’ve gotten vaccine envy – no joke. I see people post their vaccine cards and I have to work to find joy for them. It’s easier when I see they live outside CA. I’m fine waiting for the last group in which I fall. But my parents have yet to get vaccinated, and my entire family has been trying to get them an appointment. It’s driving us all bonkers. I know it will sort itself out. I trust Dr. Fauci and our new administration. It feels so good to be able to see news like this and be comforted by it rather than thinking “I wonder how they will mess this up?”
Photo credit: Avalon and cottonbro from Pexels
My worry is these increasing mutations might hurt vaccine efficacy. Which makes me all the more furious at the “I’d rather get covid instead of the vaccine” crowd.
I took my mom for her vaccine yesterday. I was positively giddy after making the appointment. I spent days on line trying to sign her up. God help those people who have nobody to help them. It’s every person for themselves.
We FINALLY got the email yesterday to sign up the over 65s, so I got online IMMEDIATELY to try and sign up my dad (93). After45 min. I FINALLY got him signed onto a pharmacy, got a date, time….hit “submit”…and it pops up “Choose another time”. AARRGGGHHHH!!!!! Then, it wouldn’t let me go back to do that!
Ok…deep breath…. try again. ANOTHER 45 min. later (on computer AND phone), and I can’t find ANY place w/in 20 mi. that is even OFFERING it. Couldn’t even sign up at a “Super Vaccine place” (like Dodger Stadium) as they’re only taking appts for health care workers, even with the new mandate.
It’s NUTS!!! We WANT the vaccine!!! My friend in NY was supposed to get his (and his mother’s) shots this Thurs. He JUST got an email today that he’s being pushed back at least a week. This is after Cuomo came out Monday saying they may run out of vaccines by the end of this week.
All I can say is, I am SO GLAD we finally have competent people in office(s) now that will prioritize getting MORE vaccines out there into arms!
A bunch of people I know got appts in southern calif/Santa Barbara for 65+ through Ralph’s pharmacy and then they shut it all down after a few hours and said they were only taking health care workers. I got an appt 90 minutes away but then it basically got rescinded. It’s just a mess.
I’m with you on the vaccine envy. My state has changed its categories and schedules multiple times. No one knows what is going on and no one can get an appointment. It’s so botched.
Honestly, I’m not even American (or in the US) and I can just feel a weight lifting from me. Partly due to vaccine rollout but more because we made it, today Biden takes charge and the US will finally have responsible adults making the decisions they believe are genuinely in the best interests of the whole country and the wider world (looking at you Paris climate accord). Sure there will be mistakes, unpopular decisions, things which don’t go to plan but they will be trying and they will genuinely care about what they’re doing.
I’m actually feeling quite emotional about it.
+1 vaccine envy
I got my first dose yesterday, and it’s kinda kicking my ass right now. Fever, headache, soreness. But you know what? I’ve never been so happy to feel like I got hit by a truck.
I’m in Texas and got mine yesterday-I have asthma. The line was huge, but they ran like a well-oiled machine once they got started, and I was in and out in an hour. I only wish everyone was as excited to get it as I was!
So glad you could get it. Are you feeling any side effects?
My husband has asthma, and we have been trying so hard to keep him/us protected until the vaccine is more readily available.
I got my vaccine last week. No side effects except for a sore arm. Absolutely buoyed at this news that additional vaccines will be approved soon.
Got mine on Monday (finally, had to have the doctor I work for call to get me in bc was not making any headway as an RN not affiliated with a hospital or large medical group; and I see covid patients everyday). Only a sore arm for me too and I have an autoimmune disease & take immunosuppressants, so I was happy to not have any other side effects. Florida’s roll out has been a mess too with seniors from other states and Canada flying in to get ours since you don’t have to be from the state. Also, I was really disturbed on Monday bc I over heard one of the administrators at the site I got mine say “I sure hope we have enough people show up so we don’t have to toss any…and anyway, we are done by 4pm.” I reported it up the chain of command, but there should be absolutely no reason that every last drop of a vaccine vial goes unused. Whether that means finding people off the street who want the vaccine or staying until after scheduled working hours to give vaccines. Truly disgusting when we have people struggling to get the vaccine and covid out of control still.
I got mine (physician) late last week. Just a sore arm and some fatigue.
I have asthma and should be in the next group to get it in NJ. We’re aiming to get 70% of the state done by June. I’m ecstatic! I just want to be able to see my parents safely. I hope the vaccine works against the variants.
My parents have their appointment, I think it’s in about six or seven weeks, I will be so relieved.
A guy I know who is in the field was talking about this the other day, if these new vaccines become available, he felt it would greatly speed up the process, especially if we have the well prepared Biden team organizing.
Vaccine envy shouldn’t be a thing. It’s not about each individual getting vaccinated. It’s about enough of the population getting vaccinated that it the crisis level of the pandemic goes away. Every person you see posting their vaccine pics is a step towards that goal.
It is about the population getting vaccinated, of course, and we’re all happy for anyone who has gotten it already. But on a personal level, many of us have sacrificed a lot. As someone who lives alone, I truly can’t wait to get vaccinated (along with my close family members) so we can see each other safely. I’m going to be spending my birthday alone this year. So yeah, it’s a big deal and I can’t help but feel a tiny bit jealous of those who already got their jabs.
I’m with @case. I totally have vaccine envy because of so many things. First, I have a child with severe special needs and we have literally been isolated seeing no one but my parents twice since last March. Second, I had a baby in September 2019 and none of my in laws on my husband’s side have met her, my parents have seen her maybe four times, my sister once, and my friends once, and she’s 16mo now! Third, the area I live in is very red and I’ve already heard from my general practitioner that the amount of people eligible for the vaccine that are turning it down has been astonishing to him. People who work in long term care facilities, medical personnel, elderly, and it’s all because of the misinformation that is circulating on all fronts. Fourth, the rollout has been excruciatingly slow here, there are no lines for it anywhere. All of the people that I’ve spoken too that have gotten it or taken someone to get it have said they were one of only a few people getting it at the same time.
So yeah I’m jealous because I want to protect my daughter and we’ve made huge sacrifices to do so and I want to get my kids back to doing normal things like everyone else seems to be doing because they don’t give a flying rat’s behind around here. My kids are suffering form this and don’t understand why but I know the second I start acting like those people and throw caution to the wind we will get sick and my daughter would most likely die.
I’m a little nervous about the AstraZeneca vaccine. Something is better than nothing, but isn’t it protective only in like 70 percent of patients? Quite a bit lower than the others. The J&J one sounds phenomenal.
I had no idea johnson & johnson did vaccines
I’m in Florida and it’s a mess down here. Snowbirds have been flying in from Canada just to get vaccinated, meanwhile my diabetic brother is waiting, and my appointment for my first shot, which was a month away, got canceled because they are worried about running out of second doses. I can’t wait for competence to take over and start fixing this crapfest.
New York has been a complete and utter mess. So disorganized. I got my vaccine through an agency I work with and they were so organized and smooth. In and out in 45 minutes. But the general state rollout… piss poor.