US hits record COVID vaccine distribution pace

Over the weekend US practitioners administered a record number of COVID-19 vaccines, with more than 4 million shots distributed on Apr 10. The daily average number of vaccines given is now over 3 million, as the country races to vaccinate adults within the next 6 weeks. But despite the progress in vaccination, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, said today that current hot spots, such as Michigan, need to focus on masking and physical distancing—in addition to vaccination—to end the latest surge of virus activity. 'Really what we need to do in those situations is to shut things down,' Walensky said during a White House briefing. 'If we tried to vaccinate our way out of what is happening in Michigan, we would be disappointed that it took so long for the vaccine to work to actually have the impact.'