United States scrambles to speed up Covid-19 shots

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo will become among the first to receive the first jab of Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccine on Wednesday on live television, the State Palace has confirmed.

Rutte said reports about the spread of the variant, identified last month in Britain, were "alarming".

New York, Jan 13 (IANS) Alarmed by a sluggish coronavirus vaccine rollout, U.S. health agencies announced a string of changes to expand supply, loosen eligibility guidelines and open more locations for people to get shots in arms as the pandemic continues to rage.

Along with the president, religious leaders, the military chief and the health minister received shots on Wednesday.

"Results from the phase three clinical trial of Coronavax vaccine in Bandung demonstrate a 65.3 percent efficacy, in comparison to a 91.5 percent efficacy during a similar trial in Turkey and 78 percent in Brazil", Penny said.

Minnesota infectious disease director Kris Ehresmann said the Minnesota Department of Health has not yet received any written guidance for the changes announced by HHS Tuesday.

"This vaccine is the instrument we can use to protect us".

Indonesia added another 10,047 new cases on Tuesday, taking its total to 846,765.

Some states, including Arizona, have or are planning to open up mass vaccination centers, aiming to inoculate thousands of people a day in a single location.

Under the current restrictions, the toughest yet imposed in the nation, schools and nonessential businesses have been closed, and people are banned from having more than two people in their homes. The growth projection is contingent on the gradual easing of mobility restrictions and the wide availability of an effective and safe vaccine, the multilateral institution said.

As of January 4, only slightly more than 4.5 million Americans have received either the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine or Moderna vaccine and only 15.4 million doses were distributed across the country.

On Tuesday, he also sought to deflect blame to the states for the slow uptake of vaccines. One-shot vaccines are still undergoing testing.

Public health experts have said no USA state has so far come close to using up its federal allotments of vaccines.

Indonesia's approach differs to other countries, which are prioritizing the elderly population.

Sommer pointed out that the government has not only failed on a number of levels to vaccinate millions of people, they have also fallen short when deciding who would do the vaccinating and where.

That time frame, however, is ambitious because of the logistical difficulties the country faces. Further results have not been made publicly available.

Dr. Russell Medford, Chairman of the Center for Global Health Innovation and Global Health Crisis Coordination Center, said Trump's new policy could save lives "if all the elements of the new policy described by Secretary Azar are effectively implemented". "The cold chain distribution here is incomplete". "The public health prevention measures we are asking people to do - stay home, mask up, social distance - aren't getting us to where we need to be".