US States Prepare for the Nation's Biggest Vaccination
2020-11-18
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1Public health officials across the United States are preparing for the biggest vaccination effort in U.S. history.
2That is because they are likely to approve within weeks a vaccine against the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19.
3As a result, they will need to give out hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine and decide who gets the vaccine first.
4The effort will involve making sure people who get the first vaccine shot return for the second one, which is required.
5Drug maker Pfizer recently raised hopes by saying early trials suggest its vaccine is 90 percent effective.
6The biotechnology company Moderna reported success Monday with a second vaccine in a major study.
7The company said the vaccine appears to be 95 percent effective, based on early data.
8The push could begin as early as next month, when federal officials say the first vaccine may be approved for emergency use.
9Federal officials have stated that, once that happens, they will immediately provide doses to high-risk groups, such as health care workers.
10Dr. Anthony Fauci is the top infectious disease expert in the U.S.
11He said last week that he hopes all Americans will be able to get shots in April, May and June.
12In Philadelphia, the health department is counting how many health care workers and others would be among the first to receive the vaccine.
13In Louisiana, officials are planning an online exercise to test different situations and see how the process might work.
14If you get 10,000 doses, what are you going to do?
15What about 100,000 doses?
16Those are questions Dr. Frank Welch thinks about.
17He is director of Louisiana's immunization program.
18Similar preparations are happening at the federal level by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
19For the vaccination effort to get started, state officials have been readying systems to track supplies.
20They also will carefully record who has been vaccinated. That information will be placed into a national network.
21Vaccine providers such as pharmacies and doctors' offices will also need to be able to use the records.
22That way, people do not have to return to the same place for their second shot.
23More than one vaccine could also become available, and doses cannot be mixed.
24"We not only have to bring people back for a second dose, but need to make sure that we have very good records of which vaccine they received the first time," said Dr. Jinlene Chan of Maryland's health department.
25States already have immunization registries, which will be used for COVID-19.
26The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, wanted providers to report the race and ethnic group of the people they vaccinate.
27The goal is to better understand whether high-risk groups are getting vaccinated.
28But pharmacies and other providers objected.
29We have to be careful not to give providers too many duties, Mitchel Rothholz told the Associated Press.
30He is with the American Pharmacists Association, an industry group.
31He said providers have been told they will have the choice to leave that information out.
32Providers will also have to report vaccination information every day.
33This will be a change for those that usually enter it weekly or less often, state officials said.
34To help people find doses in their area, the CDC wants to put information on a website.
35The site will be updated each day.
36Supplying information on how many doses are available might be difficult for some providers.
37That includes a hospital in Utah that said it only has one person who currently enters the information, said Jon Reid.
38Reid supervises the state's immunization registry.
39States are also working to expand the number of pharmacies, doctors' offices and other providers that can give COVID-19 vaccine shots.
40But registration can take time, Reid said.
41That is because providers often need help filling out documents.
42They also need help getting technical systems working and going through inspections to ensure they can meet storage requirements.
43For example, the Pfizer vaccine needs to be kept at a temperature of minus 70 degrees Celsius.
44Reid does not expect smaller pharmacies to become COVID-19 vaccinators for this reason.
45Moderna's vaccine, however, does not need extreme-cold storage. This makes it easier to transport.
46Moderna says the vaccine can be kept at temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for 30 days.
47And it can be stored for up to 6 months at minus-20 degrees Celsius.
48Both vaccines require people to receive two shots, several weeks apart.
49So the CDC is considering ways to help Americans remember the second shot.
50Getting the vaccine to people is another problem.
51The Pfizer vaccine, for example, comes in shipments of nearly 1,000 doses.
52That requirement makes it difficult to get smaller places vaccinated, said Rich Lakin.
53He is director of Utah's immunization program.
54Health care workers may have to drive to a hospital to get the vaccine doses, Lakin said.
55In North Dakota, providers receiving fewer than 1,000 doses will have them shipped to a state storage center that can keep the vaccine extremely cold.
56We will divide them into the smaller amounts and then drive them to the provider, said Molly Howell.
57She is the state's immunization director.
58But even if things go smoothly, officials worry people will not want the shots.
59Patrick Peer operates the Good Neighbor Community Health Center in Columbus, Nebraska.
60"If there's going to be any real challenge, to be honest with you, it's going to be convincing folks to get the vaccine," he said.
61I'm Bryan Lynn.
62And I'm Alice Bryant.
1Public health officials across the United States are preparing for the biggest vaccination effort in U.S. history. 2That is because they are likely to approve within weeks a vaccine against the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. 3As a result, they will need to give out hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine and decide who gets the vaccine first. The effort will involve making sure people who get the first vaccine shot return for the second one, which is required. 4Drug maker Pfizer recently raised hopes by saying early trials suggest its vaccine is 90 percent effective. 5The biotechnology company Moderna reported success Monday with a second vaccine in a major study. The company said the vaccine appears to be 95 percent effective, based on early data. 6The push could begin as early as next month, when federal officials say the first vaccine may be approved for emergency use. Federal officials have stated that, once that happens, they will immediately provide doses to high-risk groups, such as health care workers. 7Dr. Anthony Fauci is the top infectious disease expert in the U.S. He said last week that he hopes all Americans will be able to get shots in April, May and June. 8In Philadelphia, the health department is counting how many health care workers and others would be among the first to receive the vaccine. In Louisiana, officials are planning an online exercise to test different situations and see how the process might work. 9If you get 10,000 doses, what are you going to do? What about 100,000 doses? Those are questions Dr. Frank Welch thinks about. He is director of Louisiana's immunization program. 10Similar preparations are happening at the federal level by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 11For the vaccination effort to get started, state officials have been readying systems to track supplies. They also will carefully record who has been vaccinated. That information will be placed into a national network. 12Vaccine providers such as pharmacies and doctors' offices will also need to be able to use the records. That way, people do not have to return to the same place for their second shot. More than one vaccine could also become available, and doses cannot be mixed. 13"We not only have to bring people back for a second dose, but need to make sure that we have very good records of which vaccine they received the first time," said Dr. Jinlene Chan of Maryland's health department. States already have immunization registries, which will be used for COVID-19. 14The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, wanted providers to report the race and ethnic group of the people they vaccinate. The goal is to better understand whether high-risk groups are getting vaccinated. But pharmacies and other providers objected. 15We have to be careful not to give providers too many duties, Mitchel Rothholz told the Associated Press. He is with the American Pharmacists Association, an industry group. He said providers have been told they will have the choice to leave that information out. 16Providers will also have to report vaccination information every day. This will be a change for those that usually enter it weekly or less often, state officials said. 17To help people find doses in their area, the CDC wants to put information on a website. The site will be updated each day. 18Supplying information on how many doses are available might be difficult for some providers. That includes a hospital in Utah that said it only has one person who currently enters the information, said Jon Reid. Reid supervises the state's immunization registry. 19States are also working to expand the number of pharmacies, doctors' offices and other providers that can give COVID-19 vaccine shots. 20But registration can take time, Reid said. That is because providers often need help filling out documents. They also need help getting technical systems working and going through inspections to ensure they can meet storage requirements. For example, the Pfizer vaccine needs to be kept at a temperature of minus 70 degrees Celsius. 21Reid does not expect smaller pharmacies to become COVID-19 vaccinators for this reason. 22Moderna's vaccine, however, does not need extreme-cold storage. This makes it easier to transport. Moderna says the vaccine can be kept at temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for 30 days. And it can be stored for up to 6 months at minus-20 degrees Celsius. 23Both vaccines require people to receive two shots, several weeks apart. So the CDC is considering ways to help Americans remember the second shot. 24Getting the vaccine to people is another problem. The Pfizer vaccine, for example, comes in shipments of nearly 1,000 doses. That requirement makes it difficult to get smaller places vaccinated, said Rich Lakin. He is director of Utah's immunization program. 25Health care workers may have to drive to a hospital to get the vaccine doses, Lakin said. 26In North Dakota, providers receiving fewer than 1,000 doses will have them shipped to a state storage center that can keep the vaccine extremely cold. 27We will divide them into the smaller amounts and then drive them to the provider, said Molly Howell. She is the state's immunization director. 28But even if things go smoothly, officials worry people will not want the shots. Patrick Peer operates the Good Neighbor Community Health Center in Columbus, Nebraska. "If there's going to be any real challenge, to be honest with you, it's going to be convincing folks to get the vaccine," he said. 29I'm Bryan Lynn. 30And I'm Alice Bryant. 31This story combines information from two Associated Press reports. Alice Bryant adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 32_______________________________________________________________ 33Words in This Story 34dose -n. the amount of a medicine, drug or vitamin that needs to be taken at one time 35immunization -n. to give a person a vaccine to prevent infection that causes a disease 36track -v. to follow and watch the progress of a process or project 37minus -adj. having a value that is below zero, of example, of a temperature 38challenge -n. a difficult task or problem to be solved 39convince -v. to persuade someone to do something