is a free access piece, FT:

does get across the very special horror of the ICU better than most. And also the gratitude if you make it out of one alive.

CRIMINY, from the horses' mouths on all the networks: CDC director says federal government does not know how much Covid vaccine the U.S. has

By Amanda Macias @ CNBC.COM, UPDATED JAN 24 6:55 PM EST (story "trending" over there, as one can imagine!)

KEY POINTS

• The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Sunday that the federal government doesn’t know how much coronavirus vaccine the nation has.
• “I can’t tell you how much vaccine we have, and if I can’t tell it to you then I can’t tell it to the governors and I can’t tell it to the state health officials,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told “Fox News Sunday.”

[....]  “If they don’t know how much vaccine they’re getting not just this week but next week and the week after they can’t plan. They can’t figure out how many sites to roll out, they can’t figure out how many vaccinators that they need, and they can’t figure out how many appointments to make for the public,” Walensky said.

In a dig at the Trump administration, Walensky said the lack of knowledge of vaccine supply is indicative of “the challenges we’ve been left with.”

Walensky acknowledged that the U.S. must vaccinate people faster, but she said the nation faces supply constraints. Production will increase after the first 100 days, Walensky said, and the expected introduction of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine will also help ease supply problems.

“We are really hoping that we’ll have more vaccines and that will increase the pace at which we can do the vaccinations,” Walensky said [....]

White House chief of staff Ron Klain said the nation also faces distribution problems because the Trump administration, which started the program, did not have a clear plan.

“The process of distributing the vaccine, particularly outside of nursing homes and hospitals, out into the community as a whole did not really exist when we came into the White House,” Klain told MSNBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

“So, the process of getting that vaccine into arms, that’s the hard process, that’s where we are behind as a country and that’s where we are focused in the Biden administration on getting that ramped up,” he added.

White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, who served in the Trump administration, said Sunday the Biden target of 100 million doses in 100 days is not a final number.

“It is really a floor and not a ceiling,” Fauci told CBS’ “Face The Nation”. “It is going to be a challenge. I think it was a reasonable goal that was set. We always want to do better than the goal that you’ve set.” [....]

The need to vaccinate as many people as possible has taken on new urgency as the coronavirus mutates. Fauci said the Covid-19 vaccines currently on the market may not be as effective against new strains.

Biden’s surgeon general pick stressed on Sunday the U.S. is in a race to adapt against the new variants.

“The virus is basically telling us that it’s going to continue to change and we’ve got to be ready for it,” Dr. Vivek Murthy said during an interview with ABC News’ “This Week.” [.....]

Read more: Biden surgeon general pick says U.S. racing to adapt against new Covid strains

this is not a pretty picture of the future from the crystal ball:

bad news for you "we're going back to normal soon" types:

New virus variants threaten Biden’s pandemic plans

The government is already collaborating with Moderna to develop vaccine booster shots aimed at strains first identified in South Africa and the United Kingdom.

BY SARAH OWERMOHLE AND ADAM CANCRYN @ Politico.com, Jan. 25, 7:40 pm

The Biden administration is rushing to prevent the spread of new strains of the coronavirus that scientists worry could be more transmissible or render vaccines less effective.

The government is already collaborating with Moderna to develop vaccine booster shots aimed at strains first identified in South Africa and the United Kingdom. President Joe Biden on Monday also unveiled travel restrictions, implementing new limits for South Africa and reinstating bans for much of Europe that former President Donald Trump had stripped back.

The swift federal reaction comes amid new data that suggest some of the Covid-19 variants will spread faster or prove more resistant to vaccines than earlier versions of the virus, prolonging the pandemic and swamping a critical first year for the new president.

Biden, who campaigned on quickly reining in the virus, has insisted that doing so is essential to fulfill his broader agenda. But since taking office, he has emphasized the difficulties his team faces and warned of mounting health and logistical challenges.

“We’re trying to stay a step ahead of the game, rather than waiting for something to happen and reacting,” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is working with Moderna, told POLITICO.

A report last week from U.K. government science advisers indicated that the British variant could be deadlier than other versions of the virus. And preliminary research studies suggesting the South African strain could reduce the potency of existing vaccines have added to the urgency [....]

truth, not hyperbole:

it's a frigging nightmare and it's not about money or status, all the money in the world can't help you navigate this mess Right now it's just like playing the lotto, luck is all it is. The only thing that money could help with is you could hire someone to play the lotto 24 hours a day for you, you might get in. I'm in approved category now, tried fo several hours Sunday and Monday, spoke to others in like situation same for everyone. Just giving up for a week or two, not even going to try, doesn't seem to get you anything, not even a spot in line, It's like playing lotto about similar odds of winning a shot.

edit to add: imagine all the wasted money supposed vaccination sites are spending to say no.  For example, there is one Rite-Aid that's on the city's map, click on that, it puts you in special software that is like hold 20 minutes before you can even get on the website which then tells you no appointments available. Over and over many other sites say no shots available or no appointments available, try again tomorrow. (like the slots "SORRY YOU LOSE, PUT ANOTHER TOKEN IN") Many times if they are mega hospital related location, you have to make yourself a member of their patient portal first, with all the passwording and texting that requires under HIPPA. Then you do have an account with a hospital you'll never go to or use their clinics, and you also have; NO SHOT NO APPT., doesn't fucking matter.