Jab sessions canceled amid US shortages

Several US states have reported they are running short of doses of COVID-19 vaccines, causing many appointments to be canceled.

New York City has had to postpone more than 23,000 appointments this past week alone for lack of supply, Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference on Wednesday.

Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday that the state's supply is just days from exhaustion, with only 145,780 first doses on hand. The state has been administering an average of 65,000 doses daily, Cuomo said.

New York City temporarily closed its vaccination hubs on Wednesday due to a lack of supply from the federal government, city officials said.

In West Virginia, which has had one of the speediest vaccine rollouts, officials told The Associated Press that they didn't receive an increase in the number of doses this past week despite already administering 99 percent of the first doses they had.

In Los Angeles, limits on the supply of vaccines are restricting vaccinations for many older residents.

"We do not have enough of the COVID-19 vaccine for everyone," Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda Solis told the Los Angeles Times.

The Miami area and San Francisco reportedly have had to cancel appointments.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine requested more doses from the new administration of President Joe Biden as the state struggles with high hospitalizations and a death toll that has passed 10,000.

As governors search for ways to supplement their limited supply of shots, some want to buy Pfizer's COVID-19 directly from the manufacturer. But their requests have been rejected by the Biden administration.

"We need to have a national approach to vaccinations and must ensure states aren't competing against each other like they did with PPE (personal protective equipment), ventilators and tests," spokesman T.J. Deckle said in a statement.

Rochelle Walensky, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Thursday that the administration is looking into supply constraints.

About half of the 37 million doses distributed to the states by the federal government had been administered as of Thursday.

The hitches in the US vaccine rollout come as the World Health Organization said on Thursday that the global COVID-19 caseload is expected to hit 100 million by the end of January.

Agencies contributed to this story.