Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visits National Guard troops deployed at and around the U.S. Capitol on January 29, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
Manuel Balce Ceneta | Getty Images
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has approved the deployment of more than 1,000 active-duty troops to help administer Covid-19 vaccines across the United States, a member of President Joe’s coronavirus response team announced Friday. Biden.
Some of the troops will arrive in California in the next 10 days and will begin operations on Feb. 15, with additional states to follow, Andy Slavitt, a senior adviser to Biden’s Covid-19 response team, told reporters.
“The critical role of the military in supporting the sites will help vaccinate thousands of people a day and ensure that all Americans who want a vaccine receive them,” he said during the White House press conference .
Biden is trying to pick up the pace of vaccinations in the US after a slower-than-expected deployment under the administration of former President Donald Trump. The United States has distributed about 57.4 million doses of vaccine, but only about 35.2 million have been administered as of Thursday at 6 a.m., according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Pentagon is collaborating with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to expedite the delivery of the shots and is also weighing the request to send up to 10,000 troops to support vaccination efforts across the country. FEMA and the Department of Defense will jointly determine when active members are no longer needed.
The 1,110 members of the active service will make up five teams and will involve units from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, according to the Department of Defense. Troops will include nurses and medical personnel who will help administer the two-dose vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, according to the agency.
Slavitt also said the United States uses the Defense Production Act to help Pfizer meet its manufacturing goals for its vaccine. The company said Tuesday it planned to deliver 200 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine to the U.S. before May, ahead of its initial July forecast.
“I think the use of the Defense Production Act is one of the things that allows Pfizer to achieve its goals,” he said. “They announced an acceleration of their goals of when they will be able to administer vaccines. And I think our partnership with them is one of those reasons. I don’t mean it’s the full reason, but it’s certainly a critical factor.”
Federal officials are also pushing states to administer firing faster. On Monday, Slavitt said some health care providers regularly withheld vaccines for second shots, prompting the cancellation of vaccination appointments and preventing some Americans from receiving the first doses.
“We want to be clear that we understand why healthcare providers have done this, but that it doesn’t have to happen and it shouldn’t happen,” he told reporters Monday, adding that U.S. officials know the shipments of Covid vaccines in the states were often unpredictable during the start of the launch in late December.
“We fully understand that this has been the direct result of the lack of predictability that many states and providers have had as to how many doses they would receive,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons we announced last week that the federal government will provide a three-week continuous window on the vaccines that will be sent.”
U.S. officials also expect the supply of vaccines to increase after Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine is authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration, which could spend already this month. The FDA has scheduled a meeting of its advisory committee on vaccines and related biological products on Feb. 26 to discuss the vaccine, and the U.S. could authorize the vaccine the next day.
Slavitt said the US will use all available options to accelerate the manufacture of the J&J vaccine.
“As with other vaccines, we haven’t found that the level of manufacturing allows us to have as many vaccines as we think we need to get out the door,” he said.