More vaccines on the way

President Joe Biden announced the country is buying an additional 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine. That’s on top of the 100 million the company has already promised by the end of June.

How soon can we expect a return to normal? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted three vaccines emergency use authorization, and between them, there should be enough doses by the middle of May for all adults. Surplus will go to young adults and children pending safety and efficacy trials. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said the country needs to reach 70-85 percent immunity to end the outbreak—an amount he estimated is possible by late summer or early fall. About 10 percent of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dig deeper: Read Charissa Koh’s report in Compassion about the effort to vaccinate the homeless.