Trump’s planning for the deployment of the coronavirus vaccine in the United States falls short

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As scientists and pharmaceutical companies work at breakneck speed to develop a vaccine against the new coronavirus, public health officials and top US lawmakers are sounding the alarm about lack of planning on the part of the Trump administration for national distribution.

The federal government traditionally plays a major role in financing and overseeing the manufacture and distribution of new vaccines, which are often based on scarce ingredients and must be carefully manufactured, stored and transported.

There won’t be enough vaccines for the 330 million Americans right away, so the government also has a role in deciding who gets them first, and in educating a public that mistrusts vaccines here about their possible merits to save lives.

At this time, it is unclear who in Washington is in charge of oversight, let alone any critical details, some state health officials and members of Congress told Reuters.

Last week, a senior Trump administration official told Reuters that Operation Warp Speed, a White House task force that was first announced here in May, was “committed to implementing the (vaccine) plan and distribute medical countermeasures as quickly as possible. ”

However, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said at a Senate hearing on July 2 that his agency would spearhead the campaign to develop and distribute a vaccine for the new coronavirus. “This is really the primary responsibility of the CDC,” he said.

Republican Senator Roy Blunt, who chairs a panel that oversees funding for the health program, is one of several lawmakers pushing for the CDC, which was founded in 1946 to fight malaria, to lead the effort.

“They are the only federal agency with a proven record of vaccine distribution and long-standing agreements with health departments across the country,” Blunt said in a statement in mid-July.

REPEATED HISTORY?

The United States leads the world in COVID-related deaths with more than 150,000 in five months. After underestimating the virus threat here, President Donald Trump and his advisers are embroiled in internal battles over how to handle the crisis just three months before his reelection bid against Democratic candidate Joe Biden.

A Reuters / Ipsos poll from July 15 to 21 showed that only 38% of the public supports Trump’s handling of the pandemic.

Health officials and lawmakers say they are concerned that without thorough planning and coordination with states, vaccine distribution could be affected by the same kinds of disruptions that led to the chronic shortage of diagnostic tests for coronavirus and others. medical supplies.

Washington should be educating people now about vaccination plans to build public confidence and avoid confusion, said Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the health program’s funding committee.

“What’s the priority, who gets it first? The first responders, the health workers, that sort of thing,” Murray said in a telephone interview. On July 13, Murray posted a roadmap here for vaccine distribution.

A poorly executed deployment would mean “we will be sitting here in two years, in three years, in the same economic and health position that we have today,” he said.

STATES IN THE DARK

Meanwhile, some state public health officials say their appeals to the Trump administration have gone unanswered.

“We have not heard from the federal government since April 23,” Danielle Koenig, health promotion supervisor for the Washington State Department of Health, said in an email.

It was then that his agency received preliminary guidance on vaccine planning from CDC.

Immunization experts along with state and local public health officials sent a letter here to Operation Warp Speed ​​on June 23 asking for new guidance.

States must know immediately whether the federal government will pay for the vaccines, as it did during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, the letter says. Will alcohol swabs, syringes, and personal protective equipment be included? What about record keeping and refrigeration to store the vaccine and who will deliver it?

So far, there has been no official response, said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, one of the four organizations that signed the letter.

“We urgently await federal, state, and local collaborative discussions to identify challenges and plan solutions. A vaccination campaign of this magnitude is unprecedented and will take more than an army, “Hannan said Tuesday, referring to Trump’s repeated statements that the United States Army is ready to deliver vaccines.

Trump insists that everything is in its place.

“We are ready to go when it comes to the vaccine,” Trump said in a White House briefing on Thursday. “… And the delivery system is all set. Logistically we have a general who is all he does is deliver things, be they soldiers or other items.

“We are way ahead of vaccines, way ahead of therapeutics and when we have it we are prepared with our platforms to administer them very, very quickly,” Trump said.