US officials plan for next pandemic phase as vaccine uptake drops globally

As the pandemic presses further into its third year, US officials are working on overhauling the nation's strategy, and international officials are for the first time seeing COVAX vaccine supply exceed demand, casting a spotlight on the need to solve rollout problems in Africa.Pandemic strategy on White House radarThough White House officials are steeped in crisis talks regarding Russia's attack on Ukraine, efforts are under way to overhaul the nation's COVID-19 strategy, according to ABC News, which said the theme reflected a step-down in the urgency of the threat, now that vaccines, tests, and treatments are more plentiful.Yesterday, Biden administration COVID-19 leaders met with pandemic experts in a private online forum to discuss how the pandemic might unfold and what preparedness steps to take, such as boosting supplies of treatments and untangling supply chain problems, according to ABC.Before today's escalation in the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the White House had signaled that Biden might detail the nation's new approach in his Mar 1 State of the Union address.The nation's COVID-19 cases continue to fall, with 84,793 new cases reported yesterday, a level similar to the days leading up to the start of the Omicron variant surge.

Demand for COVID-19 vaccination is also falling, with the average number of Americans getting their first shot down to 90,000 per day, the lowest since the immunization campaign began, according to the Associated Press.In other developments, data posted yesterday from the National Vital Statistics System on the maternal death rate during the first year of the pandemic showed an 18% rise, with the rate in Black women nearly three times higher than that for White women.