(CNN) — Severe weather around the United States will delay Covid-19 vaccine deliveries in the coming days, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.
“Shipping partners are working to deliver vaccine where possible, contingent on local conditions, but the adverse weather is expected to continue to impact shipments out of the FedEx facility in Memphis, Tenn., as well as the UPS facility in Louisville, Ken., which serve as vaccine shipping hubs for multiple states,” CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund said in a statement.
“CDC and federal partners are working closely with the jurisdictions, as well as manufacturing and shipping partners, to assess weather conditions and help mitigate potential delivery delays and cancellations,” she said.
NYC to ‘run out’ of doses, mayor says
New York City on Wednesday had fewer than 30,000 first doses on hand due to weather-related shipment delays, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“That means we’re going to run out — today, tomorrow — we’re going to run out,” de Blasio said of vaccine supplies.
“On top of that we’ve got the weather problem, all over the nation there’s huge storms that are now causing delays in shipment.”
Vaccine shipments expected Tuesday and Wednesday were delayed, he said. As many as 30,000 to 35,000 appointments — or even more — might not be scheduled as a result.
“We’re going to have to hold back appointments that New Yorkers need,” de Blasio said.
The city has administered 1,395,956 doses, more than the total population of Dallas, Texas.
Florida sees vaccine shipment delay of 200,000 doses
Florida officials blamed winter weather across the country for the shipment delay of 200,000 Moderna Covid-19 vaccine doses, according to Jason Mahon, spokesman for the Florida Department of Health.
The shipment was scheduled to arrive Tuesday, Mahon said.
The state has notified vaccine providers about the delay and asked them to reschedule appointments instead of canceling them, Mahon said.
Florida is expecting to receive next week’s full allocation of the vaccine, according to Mahon.
President Biden: ‘Vaccine will be widely available by end of July’
President Joe Biden said Tuesday night that Covid-19 vaccines will be widely available to the general public by the end of July. During the first town hall of his presidency, Biden offered some hope — with a specific promise against which he will be judged — for 600 million doses of vaccine to be available by the end of July.
“What’s going to happen is it’s going to continue to increase as we move along. We will have reached 400 million doses by the end of May and 600 million by the end of July,” Biden told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in Milwaukee.
Biden predicted that life could be mostly back to normal by Christmas.
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