Coronavirus Vaccine Updates: Short-term speed bumps in race to vaccinate America by summer

NEW YORK (WABC) — President Joe Biden said that he expects all Americans will be able to get two doses of the COVID vaccine by the end of July.

But, there are some short-term speed bumps in the race to vaccinate the country.

Moderna is now reporting a production delay with a contractor, but the company insists it will be resolved quickly.

A bigger concern may be with Johnson & Johnson, whose vaccine has not yet been approved. The company is now reducing its initial vaccine-supply estimates, forcing Dr. Anthony Fauci to push back his timeline on when vaccines will be available to all Americans.

“It may take until June, July, and August to finally get everyone vaccinated,” he said.

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Here are more of today’s headlines:

Indoor, outdoor amusement parks and summer camps update in NY
Indoor amusement parks in New York state can reopen on March 26 with 25% capacity, while outdoor amusement parks can reopen April 9 with 33% capacity, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced. Overnight summer camps in New York can plan on reopening as well. Cuomo said that doesn’t start until June, but with the current trajectory, “they can plan on reopening.” They will have to have a testing protocols.

NYC set to run out of vaccines today or tomorrow
New York Cty has less than 30,000 first doses left and may run out today or tomorrow, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
The city is holding off on scheduling 30,000 to 35,000 appointments because first-dose deliveries will be delayed by storms across the country.

New vaccine center opens in Brooklyn
A new vaccination site opens Wednesday at Teachers Preparatory High School in Brownsville, Brooklyn.It is for residents of the immediate neighborhood, and home health aides. On Tuesday the city released data showing wealthier, predominately white neighborhoods with vaccine rates above 20 percent. By contrast, in lower income, black neighborhoods like East New York, Jamaica and Bedford-Stuyvesant, just 3 percent of the population has gotten the first dose.

FEMA to open more vaccination centers in New York and Texas
FEMA will open additional vaccination centers in Texas and New York next week, part of its effort to potentially set up 100 mass vaccination sites nationwide. And if the military has to man each of these stations, it’s possible that there could be 18,000 military personnel involved in putting in vaccines.

NEW YORK:
— York College in Jamaica, Queens – will be able to vaccinate 3,000 people a day
— Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn – will be able to vaccinate 3,000 people a day

TEXAS
–Houston – NRG Center will be able to vaccinate 6,000 people a day.
–Dallas – Fair Park Cotton Bowl Stadium will be able to vaccinate 3,000 people a day.
–Dallas — AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Park in Arlington will be able to vaccinate 3,000 people a day.

Seattle woman, 90, walks 6 miles through snow for COVID-19 vaccine
A rare winter storm that dumped a foot of snow on Seattle couldn’t keep a 90-year-old woman from her first appointment for the coronavirus vaccine.

The Seattle Times reports that Fran Goldman walked six miles round trip to get her shot.

Family says social media posts used against them in battle over remote learning
A battle over remote learning has gotten personal in New Jersey after a school official used a parent’s private social media post of students without masks.

No ashes? Ash Wednesday takes new form amid COVID-19 pandemic
Wednesday marks the beginning of the six weeks leading up to Easter and one of the holy days for Christians — Ash Wednesday.

It’s a day that usually requires a lot of personal contact for believers who get ash in the form of a cross rubbed on their foreheads. But that all changes during the coronavirus pandemic, when such close contact with a stranger isn’t exactly social distancing.

Mount Sinai cancels vaccination appointments
Mount Sinai has canceled vaccination appointments on Tuesday after they originally paused making new appointments Monday. They said that was “due to sudden changes in vaccine supply,” which “forced” them to cancel existing appointments. They have now moved to cancel existing appointments.

NYU Langone says they’re not canceling but supply is “limited” and they received a smaller than usual amount of doses this week. They’re prioritizing cancer patients, eligible patients 65+ who use them for primary care and will begin to offer to those 65+ who use them for specialty care.

Connecticut events at commercial venues can increase capacity
Events at commercial venues in Connecticut, like weddings, will increase to 50% capacity on Friday, March 19 – up from 25%.

Indoor attendance will be capped at 100 people and outdoors will allow up to 200 people. Gov. Lamont said he expects to talk about attendance at sporting events Thursday.

“I think by Thursday we are going to talk about attendance at sporting events, maybe have a chance to see your kid play hockey or basketball while you still have a winter season in high school sports,” Lamon said.

Andrew Yang announces vaccine information campaign
Democratic NYC Mayoral Candidate & Entrepreneur Andrew Yang joined GMA3 Tuesday afternoon to discuss his plans for the city if elected mayor. He announced 3,500 campaign volunteers will be used “to get out information about the vaccine right here in New York,” while calling the uptick in violence against Asian American’s “heartbreaking and devastating.”

“When this happens, it’s incredibly hurtful and devastating and we need to do more to show that this is unacceptable in New York City or any part of the country,” Yang said.

Governors ask Biden for distribution clarity
The National Governors Association is asking President Biden for clarity in federal vaccine distribution to avoid confusion and inefficiency.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who met with the president last week, is chair of the association. In a letter to President Biden, governors from across the country asked for better reporting on CDC distribution.

They say there is confusion because the federal government is running three vaccination programs, all of which are separate from the state distribution program.

COVID-19 vaccine trial to begin on children as young as 6, youngest group yet to be tested
A coronavirus vaccine trial for volunteers, ages 6 to 17, is starting this month in the UK. Global trials with teens have been underway for months, but this is the first time a coronavirus vaccine has been tested on anyone younger than 12.

300 children in the UK are enrolling in the small AstraZeneca vaccine trial through Oxford University. Oxford said in a press release that 240 of the 300 volunteers will receive the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine and the remainder a control meningitis vaccine, “which has been shown to be safe in children but is expected to produce similar reactions, such as a sore arm.”

President Biden extends ban on foreclosures
President Joe Biden is extending a ban on housing foreclosures to June 30 to help homeowners struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.

The moratorium on foreclosures of federally guaranteed mortgages had been set to expire on March 31. On his first day in office, Biden had extended the moratorium from Jan. 31. Census Bureau figures show that almost 12% of homeowners with mortgages were late on their payments.

Biden to take push for COVID relief plan outside Washington
Now that former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial is over, President Joe Biden is working this week to shift attention back to his ambitious agenda, with COVID-19 and his $2 trillion relief package taking center stage.

As Biden continues to work to get at least some Senate Republicans on board, on Tuesday he’s taking his message outside of Washington and directly to the American people while making his first official trip as president.

Latinos face barriers like fear, language in getting vaccine
Latinos are facing daunting barriers to getting COVID-19 vaccines, creating a risk for public health as the coronavirus mutates and spreads. Many are struggling with a lack of knowledge about the shots, state vaccine websites that don’t have Spanish instructions, ways to find appointments in their communities and fears they could be targeted for immigration enforcement. Ranging from the elderly Cuban Americans in Florida to farmworkers in California, Latinos tend to have health problems like diabetes, obesity and hypertension. That makes them one of the groups at highest risk from COVID-19 in the U.S.

92% of NYC restaurants could not afford December rent, survey reveals
The return of indoor dining in New York City couldn’t come soon enough for struggling Big Apple restaurants, as a new survey by the New York City Hospitality Alliance reveals 92% of more than 400 respondents couldn’t afford to pay December rent, a number that has steadily increased since the start of the pandemic.

WHO authorizes AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine for emergency use
The World Health Organization has granted an emergency authorization to AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine, a move that should allow the U.N. agency’s partners to ship millions of doses to countries as part of a U.N.-backed program to tame the pandemic.

In a statement Monday, the WHO said it was clearing the AstraZeneca vaccines made by the Serum Institute of India and South Korea’s AstraZeneca-SKBio. The WHO’s green light for the AstraZeneca vaccine is only the second one the U.N. health agency has issued after authorizing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in December. Monday’s announcement should trigger the delivery of hundreds of millions of doses to countries that have signed up for the U.N.-backed COVAX effort, which aims to deliver vaccines to the world’s most vulnerable people.

Beloved NY teacher dies from COVID, family says remote work request was denied

A family is reeling and demanding answers after their wife and mother, a beloved Westchester County teacher, lost her battle with COVID-19.

Karen Johnson, a special education teacher at the Albert Leonard Middle School in New Rochelle, passed away on February 11. Husband Robert Johnson and the couple’s son Robert Jr. have each other to lean on, as they struggle to move forward.

Top 7 COVID vaccine questions answered
You had questions about COVID-19 vaccines and 7 On Your Side is getting you answers from doctors on the front line of the pandemic.