I believe the 2019 population numbers above are for the 50 states and DC but do not include the remaining territories. Adjusting for the territories and the passage of a couple years, I estimate the population over 16 to be about 270 million.
600 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna would vaccinate 30 million more people than the entire population over 16. Another 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson would add up to more than you would need to jab every single person. However, several considerations may make the administration's approach reasonable:
1. Getting it done fast is worth more than the cost of the vaccine. In an enterprise of this scale, it's inevitable that there will be problems with delays in production and batches that have to be scrapped. You want to have excess supply available to make up for the glitches without slowing down.
2. Some experts are talking about possibly needing booster shots to deal with some of the mutations. They can probably switch some of the capacity to these booster shots when they are ready.
3. If everything goes perfectly and we really end up with more vaccines than we can use, the doses can probably be used to help out some of our less well off neighbors. That would help open up areas for American travel and trade and would help restore some of the goodwill that has been incinerated in recent years.
4. If all else fails, most government contracts have a termination for convenience clause. Although it's not a freebie, the end cost would probably not be tremendously more than what a smaller order in the original contract would have cost.
600 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna would vaccinate 30 million more people than the entire population over 16. Another 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson would add up to more than you would need to jab every single person. However, several considerations may make the administration's approach reasonable:
1. Getting it done fast is worth more than the cost of the vaccine. In an enterprise of this scale, it's inevitable that there will be problems with delays in production and batches that have to be scrapped. You want to have excess supply available to make up for the glitches without slowing down.
2. Some experts are talking about possibly needing booster shots to deal with some of the mutations. They can probably switch some of the capacity to these booster shots when they are ready.
3. If everything goes perfectly and we really end up with more vaccines than we can use, the doses can probably be used to help out some of our less well off neighbors. That would help open up areas for American travel and trade and would help restore some of the goodwill that has been incinerated in recent years.
4. If all else fails, most government contracts have a termination for convenience clause. Although it's not a freebie, the end cost would probably not be tremendously more than what a smaller order in the original contract would have cost.