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November 25, 2024
Signage leading to one of the testing centers at Heathrow Airport is seen on December 22, 2020 in London.

UK introduces mandatory Covid-19 testing for all arrivals

A healthcare worker administers a Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at the John Knox Village Continuing Care Retirement Community on January 6 in Pompano Beach, Florida. 
A healthcare worker administers a Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at the John Knox Village Continuing Care Retirement Community on January 6 in Pompano Beach, Florida.  Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Close to 6 million people have gotten the first dose of coronavirus vaccines, and 21.4 million doses have been distributed, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

The CDC says 5,919,418 people had received the first dose of coronavirus vaccine as of 9 a.m. (ET) Thursday. It says 21,419,800 doses have been distributed. This indicates the ratio of doses administered to doses delivered is falling – from 33% over the weekend to 27.6% Thursday. It varies greatly from state to state, CDC statistics indicate.

Federal and state health officials are struggling to get people vaccinated. The federal government’s Operation Warp Speed officials repeatedly promised that 40 million doses would have been distributed by the end of December, and 20 million people vaccinated. 

State health officials say the federal government overpromised what they would be allocated, and say they lack the money, staff and other resources to get vaccines out to people. Federal health officials blame the holidays and paperwork, among other things, for the slow rollout.