When Stanley * got the vaccine while driving, in a long line of cars stuck in a shed in the small town of Helena, Montana, USA, he immediately thought of his big farm. uncle.
“It looked a lot like vaccinations for the cows on his ranch.
We park them then we make them pass in a single file on a single track.
The metaphor may be frightening, but the 72-year-old retiree has no complaints about the protocol.
“I'm very happy, and I haven't heard a lot of grievances around me,” he confirms.
Stanley is one of the millions of Americans who have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
A major problem across the Atlantic: the country is one of the most seriously affected by the pandemic in the world.
This week, President Joe Biden also assured that, by the end of May, the United States would have enough doses to vaccinate all adults.
On Thursday, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted that 21.2 percent of the U.S. adult population, or nearly 54 million people, had already received at least one injection.
Compared to the campaign in France, the vaccinations in the United States, which began on December 14 with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, almost have the appearance of industrial operations.
On Wednesday, the country recorded a record 2 million daily vaccinations on average, according to the CDC.
Last month, that average was already at 1.3 million.
Vaccinations at university and in pharmacies
Crowded stadiums, hangars and parking lots full of cars, soldiers who coordinate operations ... All means are mobilized to vaccinate as many people as possible.
Everything is done at the local level.
"In general, it is the state health departments, sometimes local or county departments, which work with a large number of organizations: large hospitals, pharmacies, general practitioners, employers", decrypts the professor Julie Swann, professor of engineering at the University of North Carolina and specialist in the delivery of sanitary products.
Thanks so much to the pros at Donaldsonville @CVS for taking such amazing care of me today!
Megan and Vivian made sure I got the right C19 vaccine at the right place and safely !!
Kudos!
pic.twitter.com/vTvv5jCiDq
- Michael Bertaut (@MikeBertaut) February 26, 2021
Employees of hospitals, universities, or construction, can therefore be vaccinated on site, details the specialist.
“At the federal level, the veterans administration, the Department of Defense and the federal prison system also take care of vaccinations.
In addition to that, the federal government sends doses to large companies that have stores and pharmacies that can vaccinate themselves (in the United States, it is common to see pharmacies in the compound of supermarkets, Editor's note) She adds.
In areas where the organization is better established, some patients were able to be vaccinated fairly early, without being among the people considered priority at the national level.
Initially open to the elderly and / or frail, vaccination has extended to caregivers, and, in some states, to essential workers, who work in transport or electricity, for example.
"States have a certain flexibility to open vaccinations to one group or another, or to add cases deemed priority", specifies Julie Swann.
Lessons from the H1N1 vaccine
In Texas, Melinda *, a nurse between two contracts, was offered a vaccination appointment with a doctor in her area, just like her husband.
“I was also offered to be vaccinated in a drive, through a public health organization that offers free services in areas with less health coverage, such as in East Texas, a very poor region. and very rural, ”says the 35-year-old mother, who just had a baby boy, and is participating in a study on infant immunization through breastfeeding.
Finally eligible for my first vaccine shot!
Got it just now at The Forum in Inglewood, a very efficient drive-thru.
💉 😃 pic.twitter.com/uV1IOl8oZk
- Conrad J. Barrington (@cjubarrington) March 2, 2021
With Joe Biden's announcement, the pace of vaccinations is expected to accelerate further.
In three large vaccinodromes (a stadium and two exhibition and conference parks) in New York State, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the vaccinations would also be done at night, we learned from the New York Times.
More nurses and nursing students will be mobilized.
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In North Dakota, which has a very high vaccination rate nationally, the network of independent pharmacists, with the most up-to-date patient records, including in rural areas, has enabled more efficient vaccine distribution, describes one. Wired survey.
The arrival of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which can be stored in a conventional refrigerator, and operated with a single dose, could change the situation: it is on him that the State of Oklahoma counts in particular to massively vaccinate its population, in particular the people more difficult to follow, such as the homeless, the local press read.
How to explain such mastery?
"There are several factors", obviously specific to each state, answers Julie Swann, who however evokes a track: "We learned lessons from the distribution of the H1N1 vaccine between 2009 and 2010. We understood that it was necessary to return the vaccine widely accessible, to give the possibility to a whole bunch of places to vaccinate, in order to reach more people, in particular those most at risk.
For example, we know that it is easier to get vaccinated at the pharmacist than at the doctor.
Unlike doctors' offices, pharmacies are open on weekends, and later in the evening.
"
"The rules are different everywhere"
However, not all regions of the country vaccinate at the same rate.
It all depends on the resources allocated by each State to health systems, the complexity of these systems, the population density or the ease of access to vaccination centers, but also to information.
“My friends in Dallas and Fort Worth, some who are chronically ill, couldn't get vaccinated anywhere.
They must have made 6 hours round trip to Tyler (in Texas, Editor's note) after I referred them, ”says Melinda, from Texas.
“The rules are different everywhere.
My dad got access to the vaccine early on in Florida, which even vaccinated people outside of the state.
But my 82-year-old stepfather from Kansas only just had his injection, ”laments the trained nurse.
For older people, registering online can also be complicated, describes Jeff, a lawyer, who has had no problem getting the vaccine in Nevada, where he resides.
“My in-laws are over 80, live in New York State, and have comorbidities.
The registration process was complicated for them to understand, so we had to help them find days and times to be vaccinated, ”he says.
What qualifies the objective of Joe Biden, who wants all adults to have access to at least one dose of the vaccine within three months.
“I don't know if we can achieve this goal.
It would take a considerable increase in the pace at which we are today.
If we follow the same trend, we will reach high levels of vaccination during the summer, ”judges Professor Julie Swann.
“It all depends on the ability of companies to produce and deliver so many vaccines in this short period,” she adds.
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Covid-19: all you need to know about vaccination among pharmacists in France
Pfizer and Moderna plan to deliver enough doses for 200 million Americans.
Joe Biden also announced that the Johnson & Johnson lab will manufacture its vaccine 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to meet demand.
The Department of Defense even collaborates with the company in terms of logistics.
But for Julie Swann, the issue, anyway, is not limited to the production and administration of the vaccine in the United States.
“The challenge is not just to cover all American adults.
We must also ensure that the vaccine is available everywhere in the world.
"
* First names have been changed.
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