ATLANTA — With just days to go until the new year, time seems to be running out for the U.S. government to meet their original goal of vaccinating 20 million people with the coronavirus shot by the end of the year.
Over one million people in the United States have received a dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
In a media briefing on Wednesday, Chief Science Adviser for Operation Warp Speed Moncef Slaoui said that it didn't seem likely they would meet the 20 million vaccination goal.
"The process of immunizations — shots in arms — is happening slower than we thought it would be," said Slaoui.
As of Thursday, the CDC says more than 9 million doses have been distributed nationwide. That's a difference of almost 8 million doses delivered and actual shots given. Government officials blame a lag in data; adding that the distribution number includes both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, while the shots given out only account for Pfizer.
Meanwhile, as vaccines seem to slowly roll out across the country, Georgia continues to set COVID-19 records. Dr. Aubrey Arona, District Health Director for Gwinnett, Newton, and Rockdale Counties, says the public needs to expect to wait on the vaccine.
“This vaccine is the best thing in our belt right now, but the reality is that it’s going to take a minute to get all the people vaccinated for this," explains Arona.
In the meantime, Arona says people need to keep practicing COVID-19 prevention techniques, “in order for our numbers to go down, people need to keep doing these prevention methods that we know.”
Members of Operation Warp Speed say they are planning on allocating 20 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year, but not all doses will be delivered until the first week of January.