A more contagious and faster spreading strain of the virus discovered in the UK and designated VUI-202012/01 has already made its way to the US, including the state of New York.
"We estimate that it will take about six weeks for the new, more contagious variant to replace the old one," said Scott Braithwate, a professor of population health at NYU School of Medicine, quoted by local NY1 TV.
According to the scientist, the city will have to vaccinate almost half of its population during this period to avoid another wave of the virus.
"We have to vaccinate about 40 to 50 percent of people in the next six weeks - that is our challenge," he noted.
According to recent estimates, over 8.3 million people live in five city districts. According to earlier plans, a million people were to be vaccinated by the end of January. According to the NYC Health portal on Wednesday, 129,624 people have received the first dose and the second 2,492.
"Many people accuse the city of not being prepared for a more efficient vaccine, even though it was expected to arrive," Braithwaite said. However, he added that it was easy to point a finger and praised how far vaccination efforts have come, writes NY1.
As the scientist adds, in the next six weeks it is possible to administer the vaccine from 40 to 50 percent. residents.
"I think with sufficient effort and resources it is feasible," argued Braithwaite.
Meanwhile, as reported on Wednesday by Bloomberg, citing its data and the statistics of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 5.2 million doses have been administered nationwide since the launch of the vaccination campaign in the US on December 14. More than 15.6 million people have been vaccinated in 37 countries around the world.
Bloomberg points out that delivering billions of Covid-19 vaccines worldwide will be one of the greatest logistical challenges ever addressed.

I'm glad the U.S. is finally responding effectively to the outbreak in their own country, it's come to this and the fight is global.