COVID-19 Cases Surge in U.S. as Vaccinations Fall Below Government Predictions

National Public Radio reports that nearly 300,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States on Saturday, while the total death toll surpassed 350,000 the same day, according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard. Although many Americans hope that the COVID-19 vaccines will help contain the pandemic, government forecasts for how many people should have been vaccinated thus far are coming up short. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that more than 4.2 million people had received the initial vaccination dose as of Saturday — far below the government's target of immunizing 20 million Americans by the end of December. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who has defended the federal government's actions over the discrepancy, responded to Sen. Mitt Romney's (R-Utah) assertion that it failed to develop a comprehensive vaccination strategy. He stated, "We did deliver on 20 million doses delivered, but you're always going to have more doses allocated versus delivered — delivered versus shots in arms." Kaiser Health News Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal said the absence of central coordination has led to a lack of equitable vaccine rollouts across the country. "It's a very disorganized kind of slow walk and it really depends where you live and, in some places, who you know. That is not how a national vaccine campaign should be carried out," she explained.