The Trump administration is releasing the second doses of coronavirus vaccines that had been withheld for booster vaccines and urges states to administer the vaccine to anyone over 65 and people with pre-existing health conditions, a change of its previous guidance to prioritize doses for health care workers.
“First of all, we have already made all the doses of vaccine available. Therefore, we had retained the second doses as a safety stop, “Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said on Tuesday.” We now believe that our manufacturing is predictable enough to ensure that doses of doses for continued production, so everything is now available to our states and our health care providers. ”
Department of Health and Human Services officials are expected to provide details about the change later Tuesday.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 25.4 million doses of vaccine have been distributed, but only 8.9 million Americans have been shot.
Axios first reported the planned announcement.