U.S. states cut back vaccine orders as interest in shots wanes

States have asked the government to withhold staggering levels of COVID-19 vaccine amid plummeting demand for the shots, contributing to an evergrowing U.S. stockpile of doses.

From SC to Washington, states are requesting the Biden administration send them only a fraction of what's been assigned to them. The turned-down vaccines total hundreds of thousands of doses this week alone, providing a stark illustration of the problem of vaccine hesitancy in the U.S.

A lot more than 150 million Americans - about 57% of the adult population - have obtained at least one dose of vaccine, but government leaders from the Biden administration down to the town and county level are doing everything they are able to to persuade all of those other country to get inoculated.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said Friday that the government has dedicated $250 million for community organizations to market vaccinations, make appointments and offer transportation.

He cited examples such as holding conversations with small groups of people in minority communities in St. Louis and asking Rhode Island churches to get hold of community members and provide them rides to vaccination sites. He also noted that a global Hindu American organization has turned temples into vaccination centers, making it easier for elderly members to get shots in a familiar setting. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has added a vaccination site in which people will get their shots in a Formula 1 garage near to the race tunnels.

The Biden administration announced this week that if states don't order all of the vaccine they've been allotted, the administration will shift the surplus to meet demand in other states.

In another sign of the burgeoning national surplus, Biden announced the other day that his administration would share the country's entire stock of AstraZeneca doses with the world once it clears safety reviews.

The huge supply and dwindling demand has highlighted the vast inequalities through the pandemic, with countries like India buckling under a disastrous surge of the virus and other nations having no doses at all. As well, wealthy countries just like the U.S. are awash in vaccine, and seeing cases and deaths plunge as a result.

The government allocates vaccines to each state based on their population size, and then it's up to the states to choose how many doses they would like to order every week. Early on, states routinely asked for the full allocation -- and were clamoring for more shots - but now they are scaling back requests.

Wisconsin officials have asked for just 8% of the 162,680 doses the government had reserve for the state in a few days. Julie Willems Van Dijk, the state health department's deputy secretary, acknowledged earlier that demand is softening and vaccinators are drawing down existing inventories before ordering more doses.

In Iowa, officials have asked the federal government for 29% of that state's allocated doses in a few days. Kansas officials asked for under 9% of their 162,000-dose allotment earlier this week. Counties have already been turning down doses as demand plummets, leaving the state with a stockpile of almost 647,000 doses.

Melaney Arnold, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health, said the state has five weeks’ worth of doses on hand. The other day, state officials for the first time requested fewer doses than allotted as a result of declining demand. The state plans to request just 9% of its allotted doses for everywhere but Chicago for in a few days.

Connecticut has requested 26% of its allotment for in a few days. SC plans to order 21% of its doses.

NEW YORK has scaled back its request for days gone by week by 40%. Washington state also cut its order by about 40% this week, the first time the state's order has been smaller than its allocation.

Not many people are dialing back. Maryland and Colorado are still ordering their full amount. So is New York City. The common number of daily shots in the nation's most significant city has dropped about 40% since peaking at a lot more than 95,000 in mid-April, but city officials want a steady way to obtain doses to create more shots at hospitals, neighborhood pharmacies and other small providers, hoping to appeal to persons who've skipped mass vaccination sites.

“We've got the demand to keep using our supply effectively,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

Health authorities have generally said about 70% of the country's population would need to be vaccinated to attain herd immunity. The Biden administration wants to get 70% of adult Americans vaccinated by July 4, but has acknowledged the downward trend in vaccinations and the task to win over persons who doubt the vaccine's effectiveness or simply don't need to get shots.

The president announced Tuesday that federal officials will expand smaller and mobile vaccination clinics for hard-to-reach communities and push education campaigns. He also offers touted incentive programs, such as for example discounts for shoppers who get vaccinated at food markets.

NEW YORK health officials are considering paying younger people to get shots. West Virginia has announced persons between the ages of 16 and 35 will be entitled to $100 savings bond if indeed they get the vaccine or have gotten it. Detroit officials started an application Monday to pay persons $50 for every city resident they sign up for an initial dose and generate for an appointment.

Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at Johns Hopkins University, said he wasn’t “despairing” over the slowing of demand.

“Herd immunity isn't necessarily an instant when the music plays and sunlight shines,” he said. "It is about how easy it is for the virus to pass around in a community, and I think there is much more progress to be produced. People who think, ‘Well, we are finished with the large stadiums, so that is it, we are not going to vaccinate any longer people’ are wrong. You can vaccinate a whole lot of people if you make it convenient for them, if you get it with their doctor’s offices, if you answer their questions. But it is going to have a different kind of effort to accomplish it.”