还有不到三周,拜登的疫苗目标可以实现吗?
上月,美国总统拜登曾给自己定了一个“小目标”。
美国当地时间5月4日,拜登公开宣布要在7月4日前,让美国70%的成年人至少接种一剂新冠病毒疫苗。
他表示,国庆日将被看作是美国民众能举行小规模聚众活动的标志日期,也将被看作是美国重返正常生活的开始。
现在一个多月过去了,截止日期临近,拜登距离自己的目标还有多远?
美国疾病控制与预防中心CDC的数据显示,截至本周三,约65%的美国成年人至少接种了一剂疫苗。
In early May, U.S. President Joe Biden has set a vaccination goal to deliver at least one dose to 70 percent of adult Americans by July 4.
Now, with the deadline looming, how close is Biden to achieving his goal?
As of Wednesday, about 65 percent of the U.S. adults had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
据美国消费者新闻与商业频道(CNBC)估算,要想达成70%的接种目标,在从6月17日到7月4日的18天里,约1360万人必须接受第一针疫苗接种,即平均每天要有约75.6万例的疫苗接种量。
但是数据表明,美国过去一周平均每天的新增疫苗接种仅有33.6万。
"Roughly 13.6 million would have to receive their first shot over the next 18 days to get that figure to 70%, an average of about 756,000 new vaccinations each day. The U.S., however, is averaging 336,000 newly vaccinated adults per day over the past week."
白宫新冠疫情协调员杰夫•齐恩茨于本周四对记者表示,美国将在这个夏天跨过70%接种率大关,但没有具体说明美国是否能在7月4日前达到这一目标。
CNBC预测,如果在未来几周内美国不加快疫苗接种的速度,拜登的目标可能无法如期实现了。
White House Covid czar Jeff Zients told reporters on Thursday that the U.S. states would cross the 70 percent mark this summer but did not specify whether the country would reach that goal by July 4.
CNBC predicts that Biden's goal may not be met if the pace of vaccinations does not accelerate in the coming weeks.
此前,白宫正加倍努力提高疫苗接种率。
除了动员全国的组织、社区、名人、运动员和其他有影响力的团体参与疫苗接种活动,要求药店在6月份延长工作时间之外,白宫还与多个打车软件合作,为接种地点提供免费乘车服务。
同时,美国各州也推出了包括设立彩票在内的一系列激励措施,试图引导居民接种疫苗。
各州差异明显
尽管在全国范围内离实现70%的接种率还差5个百分点,全美14个州和哥伦比亚特区已经成功实现了这一阶段性目标。其中纽约州州长安德鲁•库默周二宣布,纽约州将因此取消大部分针对新冠病毒的活动限制。
与此同时,根据美国CDC上周三公布的数据,在目前全美接种率最低的10个州中,有8个州都是南部州,其中接种率最低的三个州为阿拉巴马州、路易斯安那州和密西西比州。
在密西西比州,疫苗接种进度明显放缓,迄今只有大约45%的人口接种至少一剂疫苗。共和党籍州长泰特•里夫斯声称,拜登定下的目标是“武断的”。
据新华社报道,里夫斯在本月6日接受美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)采访时表示,影响接种推广更重要的因素是新增确诊病例近期减少,随着疫情好转,民众接种意愿减弱。
根据约翰•霍普金斯大学公布的最新数据,在过去两周里,阿拉巴马、阿肯色、夏威夷、密苏里、内华达、得克萨斯、犹他和怀俄明等8个州的新冠确诊数出现持续增加。在这8个州中,除夏威夷之外,其他7个州都是目前全美接种率最低的州。
Eight of the 10 states with the lowest vaccination rates are in the South, with Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi leading the way, according to data released by the CDC last Wednesday.
In Mississippi, vaccination progress has slowed significantly, with only about 45 percent of the population receiving at least one dose of vaccine so far. The Republican governor, Tate Reeves, has called Biden’s goal “arbitrary, to say the least”.
Johns Hopkins University data shows that eight states -- Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Missouri, Nevada, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming -- have seen a steady increase in the number of COVID-19 diagnoses in the past two weeks. Seven of the eight states, with the exception of Hawaii, now have the lowest vaccination rates in the country.
美国FDA前局长斯科特•戈特利布14日表示,在目前美国的新冠确诊病例中,印度发现的Delta变异毒株仅占10%左右,但这个数字每两个星期就会翻一倍。
戈特利布表示,变异病毒的确诊比例在美国不断增加也意味着在今年的秋天后,变异病毒很有可能会在没有接种疫苗的人群中迅速蔓延。
Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said on Thursday that the Delta variant accounts for only about 10% of the cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the U.S., but that number is doubling every two weeks.
Experts are concerned that southern states could face a new outbreak during the summer.