The federal government’s Operation Operation Speed promised to provide 20 million doses before January 1. However, recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that just over 11 million doses have been distributed, and only 2.1 million have actually been administered to people.
Despite the order of magnitude behind his self-imposed pace, and the certainty of missing his year-end numbers, Trump administration officials tell CNN that vaccine distribution is on track and blames the gap in error in reporting data.
A senior administration official told CNN that the distribution is exactly where they would have expected. The official stressed that there is no gap in reporting the number of vaccines given, however, there is no gap in reporting the dose given.
The CDC’s dashboard, which is currently updated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, says the Covid vaccination program expects a large difference between the number of doses shared at this stage and the number administered.
In a statement to CNN, Michael Fischer, chief communications officer at War Operations Speed, said: From the first dose, because the states order for them. ”
But Dr. Anthony Fawcett threw out the cold water that the vaccine distribution was on track, telling CNN’s Jim Sayotto on Tuesday morning that the U.S. “It’s definitely not on the numbers that we want to be at the end of December.” Covid-19 comes in vaccine quantities.
“If you as an undercount, as a 2 million undercount, how much of that undercount could it be?” Fawcett said. “So down to where we want to be.”
“As I have long feared and warned, trying to deliver and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should,” Biden said in a comment in Wilmington, Delaware. “If it continues as it is now, it will take years, not months, for Americans to be vaccinated.”
Speaking on CNN on Monday, Biden’s Covid-19 advisor, Dr. Celine Gounder expressed the speed at which people are vaccinated, saying that the country is vaccinating 1 million people every day, not every week.
“It would take us a decade to vaccinate all Americans with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, so that’s not a clearly acceptable pace.”
Reasons for delay
The executive director of the American Public Health Association, Dr. George Benjamin gave three major reasons for the issues surrounding the distribution: vaccine supply, inadequate infrastructure and communications.
About the vaccine supply, Benjamin said that about 330 million people in the U.S. need to be vaccinated. Do not have The current numbers show that the U.S. Has about 11.4 million doses, and administration officials expect to take 20 million doses on hand in early January. This is significantly less than the original promise made by the administration, which was receiving 100 million doses by the beginning of the year.
Transporting and storing vaccines is complex and is not an ultra-cold delivery chain that has been used in the past. Just learning and the habit of the system can delay vaccine administration and even worse.
A spokesman for the facility said about 500 doses of the modern Covid-19 vaccine had to be discarded Saturday at Orarora Medical Center in Grafton, Wisconsin, due to a storage error.
“We found that about 50 vials of the Moderna vaccine were inadvertently removed from a pharmacy refrigerator overnight,” the medical center said in a statement. “Our internal review has determined that as a result of an unwanted human error, the vials were not replaced in the refrigerator after other items were temporarily removed for access.”
Benjamin, administrative officials and health care workers told CNN that the conversation surrounding vaccine delivery needs to be clarified for public understanding of vaccine safety and effectiveness.
Biden’s dilemma
With Biden taking office in three weeks, a large part of the vaccination is likely to be under his supervision, marking one of the initial tests of his administration. In his coronavirus comment on Tuesday afternoon, he outlined his plans to speed up vaccination.
“This is going to be the biggest operational challenge we face as a nation, but we will get it done,” Biden said.
The president-elect aims to administer 100 million doses in his first 100 days in office, and on Tuesday, he unveiled the first concrete steps he has taken to help make reality, including adopting a more federalized approach to vaccines. The process than the Trump administration.
Biden said his administration would help set up mass vaccination sites and help send mobile units to communities where access is difficult. The president-elect said he would use the Defense Production Act to increase vaccine production.
His administration will launch a public education campaign to promote vaccine safety, especially among black, Latino and Native American communities who have expressed skepticism about the vaccine.
They are also talking about how to overcome the tremendous work with previous administration officials, the hospital network and members of the medical community. They have been in regular contact with state and local authorities to enable state and local governments to enjoy their needs in administering the vaccine, including funding and additional staffing.
“I think they are very aware that the federal government must play a more active role not only in the development of the vaccine, but also in its actual administration,” said a state official in contact with the Biden team.
The state’s health departments are pulling towards a full Max Fighting Covid by testing. The county and local are in the same boat, the state official said. “It’s not just the standard of vaccine operation but puts it at the top of what states are already doing.”
According to Benjamin, who is negotiating with the transition team, a more nationalized response may be his answer.
“This requires leadership and coordination at the federal level,” he said. “Target use of the Defense Production Act to remove barriers to production and regulatory barriers. Coordination also requires a strong federal, state and local partnership. The Biden administration can provide leadership, strengthen and enhance delivery infrastructure.” “
But some health officials are concerned that changing the process in the middle of the distribution could do more harm than good.
The story was updated on Tuesday afternoon with Biden’s comment.
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