- [Reporter] As a more contagious mutation

arrives in the US,

daily Coronavirushospitalizations hover around

a hundred thousand nationwide.

- We are having to treatpatients in the hallways,

and also in the ambulances.

- [Reporter] Healthexperts see the vaccine

as their best hope to getahead of the pandemic.

It's off to a bad start, however,

as less than half the 31million doses distributed

have been injected.

- I looked and looked, andall the options were full.

- [Reporter] President-elect Biden-

- It's gonna take time, to-- vowing to turn things around

and vaccinate roughlyone third of the country,

by the end of April

- We are confident thatwe have enough vaccine

for the 100 million dosesover the next 100 days.

That is what thepresident-elect has promised.

It will be a hefty lift butwe have it in us to do that.

- [Reporter] In additionto the available vaccines,

another two, one from AstraZeneca,

and also Johnson and Johnson,could be available next month.

Some high profile Christian leaders

have either gotten theCoronavirus vaccine already,

or announced plans to get it.

And at the same time

are encouraging thefaithful to follow suit.

- [Reporter] Dallas megachurchPastor, Robert Jeffress,

got his last week, callingit, "A gift from God."

- We shouldn't be surprisedthat God uses science many times

to accomplish his purpose.

- [Reporter] He admonished Christians

who prayed for an end to the pandemic,

yet plan to refuse the vaccine.

- It's like calling 911,when your house is on fire,

and then refusing to allowthe firemen into your home.

I mean, it makes no sense whatsoever.

- Not only are some faith leaders

encouraging Christians to get vaccinated,

some churches are openingtheir doors to the community

to become places wherepeople get their shots.

- [Reporter] In just one day,

500 people got theirsat this Florida church,

no reported problems

- It's nothing to it,

as crucial as things aretoday with this virus.

- [Reporter] A new surveyshows people of faith

are strongly influenced by their leaders

to either get the vaccine or refuse it.

- Part of our plan is to

engage with faith leaders

around vaccine rollout.

- [Reporter] In fact, pastors,opposed to the vaccine

are invited to contact World Vision

to discuss their concerns.

- Lorie Johnson joins us now for more

on the efforts to step upthe vaccine distribution.

Lorie, tell us how, how are

how is the Biden administrationgoing to get this done?

I mean, we're already hearingthat they're running out

of the second dose.

And so how, how is he going to be able to

manufacture a hundred million doses?

- Well, he hasn't ruled out

the Defense Production Act, Gordon

and says that we should trust

that these vaccine manufacturers

will make the doses required.

And so as soon as thosedoses roll off the line

they're going to besent out to the States.

So we'll see if that actually does happen

but he's putting theonus on the manufacturers

the manufacturers say,"Hey, wait a second.

You know, it's not all up to us.

Sometimes we don't havethe necessary supplies."

So we'll be keeping a close eye

on whether these manufacturers can keep up

with the demand, Gordon.

- All right.

Well, tell us about thetwo latest vaccines.

What are the components andwhat's the success rate?

- So we're talking aboutJohnson and Johnson

and AstraZeneca.

Both of them are in phase threeclinical trials right now.

The Johnson and Johnsonvaccine is interesting

because it's only one shot.

Experts say that we shouldexpect about an 80% efficacy.

The AstraZeneca shot, again,

is still in phase three clinical trials

but it looks like it's goingto have about a 70% efficacy.

This is still very good.

The FDA was hoping for anything over 50%

but it is far less effective

than the current vaccinesthat are out there right now

which have a 95% efficacy.

If these are approved

the earliest will be at theend of next month, Gordon.

- Now tell us about theingredients of the new vaccine.

I know the Pfizer and Moderna versions

had no fetal cell lines in them.

Is that the same forthe, these two new ones?

- No, actually, theAstraZeneca has used components

from the fetal cell lines.

These are, this is

from an abortion thatoccurred about 50 years ago.

And so a lot of faithleaders are saying, you know

if this is a problem for some,some are saying that it's not

even within the Christian community,

within the pro-life community

but people who do havereservations about that

hopefully there will be some options

and people can actually choose

which vaccine they will receive.

- Okay, I saw in your report

that Robert Jeffress got a vaccination

and I'm kind of wonderinghow do I get on that list?

I've been in touch withthe local health providers

and I'm getting told, no, I can't get one.

So how do people getinformed about how to get it?

And then,

how do they exercise choice

on which version they get?

- Well, it's a great question, Gordon

and every single stateis doing it differently.

And the best bet is to go

to your state health department's website.

And this is a challenge forsome people who are elderly

so folks, if your parents need a vaccine

it might be nice foryou to help them online.

A lot of doctor's officesare saying, "Don't call us.

We're really busy treatingpatients right now."

So the state health department

is where you need to go to sign up

and most states are now opening it up

to people who are over age 65

and then you can get your shot

and see which shot they're offering.

And a lot of times

people don't have a choiceat this point, though.

- Well, hopefully the choices will open up

so that you can choosewhich version you get.

I think that's the best.

Well, Lorie, thanks forstaying on top of the story.

And if you want to stay ontop of the story with Lorie,

all you have to do is go toour website. CBNnews.com.