There is a chart that is worrying
that is involved in the Covid vaccine rollout here in the US.
And it is this one.
This shows the number of people getting shots every single day.
And until recently it was a source of great pride
in the country, peaking earlier this month at an average
of 3.4m doses every single day.
But look what has happened since.
The number is falling just as quickly as it rose and now
stands at more like 2.3m doses a day.
So what's going on?
One explanation is that people have become more nervous
about getting vaccinated since a handful of people
encountered serious illness after getting vaccinated
with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
And it is certainly true that the beginning of the drop-off
coincides with the point at which US regulators put the J&J
vaccine on pause while they investigated further.
But while confidence in J&J's particular vaccine
does seem to have dropped, the overall willingness
of Americans to get vaccinated does not, polls suggest.
Instead, what seems to be happening is
we're simply reaching the end of the group who
are most eager to get vaccinated, those people who
are willing to drive for hours to do so.
Instead, the US is now trying to vaccinate
people who are more cautious, who definitely don't want it
at all, or simply don't see the reason to,
given that they're are low risk of suffering from serious Covid
effects at all.
In response, the Biden administration
is trying to make it easier for people to get vaccinated.
Today, we know that many adults have not
been vaccinated because they have found
it too confusing, or too difficult, or too inconvenient
to get a shot.
So for those having trouble finding a location
or making an appointment, we're going
to make it easier than ever.
It's setting up mobile vaccine clinics.
It's urging pharmacies to allow people to get vaccinated
without prior appointment.
And it's spending hundreds of millions of dollars
on a campaign of education and outreach
to make sure that people have all the information they
need to make the right choice.
But some experts believe that there are now
parts of the country opening up where
vaccination rates are just going to be lower than other places.
And that will open up gaps for the virus to reappear, albeit,
hopefully, in a much more localised and less serious way.