Biden Promises All Adults Will be Vaccinated by May

President Biden has recently announced that he is promising all adults that want a vaccine will be able to get one in May

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The new Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one dose, making roll out and administering easier

President Biden has announced that vaccines will be available to all adults by the end of May. The White House originally promised vaccines would be available to all in July. This announcement follows the FDA approving the Johnson and Johnson vaccine for emergency use. The extreme jump between May and July is also attributed to pharmaceutical giant Merck assisting in making more Johnson and Johnson vaccines, a deal brokered by the Biden administration.

Local teacher at Lafayette High School, Elisabeth Wathen, recently received her second Moderna shot. (Elizabeth Wathen)

As of March 17th, the CDC has reported that 110,737,856 vaccines have been administered, which is about 30% of the United States’ population. Getting all adults a vaccine in two months sounds like an extremely difficult challenge to achieve. The White House has already bought 200 million more Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which would all be delivered by July. A new deal is now being announced that the White House has also secured a deal for 100 million Johnson & Johnson vaccines, which can be delivered quickly in case there are manufacturing issues with Moderna and Pfizer. With these two deals, the United States will have plenty of vaccines for the whole country.

One challenge with getting every American to get a vaccine is not just supply, but willingness. Many Americans are still weary of the vaccine. One essential worker at Ace Hardware has said, “I’m too old and have had too many surgeries to feel safe enough to take the vaccine.” Many others are “waiting to see what happens.” Some of this fear has stemmed from the fact that the vaccines were made and distributed quickly, leading many to think that it was too rushed and to tested enough. Another reason that some are unwilling to get vaccinated is because of the general distrust of scientists and doctors forged by certain political figures. Without leadership showing that the vaccines are extremely safe and effective, America is facing a difficult roadblock to herd immunity.

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The vaccines have been proven effective and safe several times though. Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccine works relatively the same way, by putting MRNA into your body that instructs our cells how to make proteins that target and destroy the Covid-19 virus. This does not change our DNA against what some may think. MRNA is basically just a message to create a certain type of protein. Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine works like other vaccines that people are more trusting of. It uses a dormant cold virus that has the spiky protein needed for our body to make antibodies. This also means that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one shot. Hopefully this will make more people that aren’t so sure about the vaccine get the shot, since they are familiar with the way it works.

Before their volleyball practice, athletes line up to get their temperature checked. If an athlete’s temperature exceeds 100 degrees Fahrenheit, they will be asked to leave. (Alivia Palmer)

With vaccines being promised to all adults by the end of May, the United States is well on its way to herd immunity. As long as new strains aren’t immune to the current vaccines and everyone gets a vaccine when they can, the light at the end of the tunnel is beginning to shine a little bit brighter.