The Trump administration has fallen far short of its initial commitment to vaccinate 20 million Americans by the end of 2020, with fewer than 3 million people receiving COVID-19 vaccines out of the 14 million doses that have been sent. . Local health providers responsible for the last mile of vaccine delivery are understaffed and exhausted by the ongoing battle against the pandemic, and limited resources, prioritization plans and mistakes have also hampered the vaccination effort nationwide.
The first signal the administration had overpriced came in late December, when officials changed their promise: from vaccinating 20 million Americans by the end of the year to promising to “make doses of vaccines available” to 20 million. Moncef Slaoui, the chief adviser to the federal vaccine effort known as Operation Warp Speed, admitted this month that “the end of vaccines (shooting in the arms) is running out” which is slower than we thought it would be ”.
“That number is lower than we expected,” Slaoui acknowledged again in a briefing on Wednesday. He challenged anyone who could “help us further improve vaccine administration to come to the table, roll up our sleeves and come help us with specific ideas.”
The Department of Health and Human Services he said Tuesday has allocated 19.88 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of December. But the allocation is not the same as administering the doses. Assigned vaccines have yet to be shipped to state-selected destinations and, in some cases, need to be redistributed by state and local health authorities before health care providers who make the vaccines can begin preparing the first ones. dose.
“We will get the vaccines out as quickly as they are available,” said Gustave Perna, the army general in charge of overseeing the logistics of vaccine distribution.
While both vaccine manufacturers and federal officials insist there have been no major delays in producing or distributing the first 20 million doses, only 70% of the promised vaccines have been shipped. Some providers have reported that they have only started receiving their first shipments from state redistribution centers this week, days after waiting to start vaccinations..
States have received fewer doses of vaccine than those initially allocated by the federal government. Earlier this month, Perna apologized for his “poor communication” about vaccine allocation; had reviewed the number of doses that should be sent to some states after receiving more information from Pfizer about what was available.
“This is disturbing and frustrating. We need predictable and accurate numbers to plan and ensure success on the ground,” said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. at the time.
Washington officials said that among dozens of states were shipments of vaccines that had been reduced (in their case by 40%) by federal authorities, although it seems that this particular issue has been addressed. . Inslee later praised Perna for his “postage” in explaining the issue, saying “There are no indications that further reductions are likely to occur. This is good news.”
Vaccine administration
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that as of Thursday only 2,794,588 people had received the first dose of COVID-19 Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, although the CDC warned that vaccination figures they were “a day or two late.”
Vaccine providers have 72 hours to submit data on his vaccinations, which Dr. Nancy Messonier, the head of the CDC COVID-19 vaccine, said Wednesday she notes “that when they seek to vaccinate people so quickly, it can take a while to get into all data. ”
It has not been easy for vaccine providers to navigate the prioritization levels set out in state and federal guidelines, balancing vaccine prioritization demands for health care workers against the pressure to administer shots quickly.
Vaccinators have he also feels frustrated the deployment in long-term care centers, following misunderstandings about consent requirements, suffered from the launch of vaccination programs by pharmacy chains such as CVS and Walgreens. Spokesmen for both companies said snafu consent has been straightened out, but declined to share specific figures on their vaccinations, which began nationwide last week.
But pharmacies have not yet begun vaccinating at long-term care centers in some jurisdictions, Messonier said, because some clinics maintain doses until they have enough vaccine “for all establishments that wanted the vaccine.”
The administration of the vaccine to people who are not on the list of top priorities also delays the notification of the person receiving the shots. Recipients of vaccines appearing to “cut line” have received outrage across the country, prompting protests by front-line health workers at Stanford Medical Center and an investigation into some in New York vaccine providers. On Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order to crack down on vaccinators who don’t follow the priority population process, fining them up to $ 1 million and revoking all licenses, according to CBS New York.
In Southern California, a hospital defended its decision to vaccinate “front-line health care workers” after a Disney employee alleged that her connections had gotten her a vaccine against COVID-19.
“Because the reconstituted Pfizer vaccine should be used within a few hours or disposed of, several doses were given to front-line health workers so that valuable vaccines would not be thrown out,” the Redlands Community Hospital spokesman said. , Nikyah Thomas-Pfeiffer, in a statement. .
While in Texas, officials have urged vaccinators to “pivot” to administer doses to any “readily available and willing” resident, even if not all front-line health workers had been vaccinated.
“It has become clear that a significant portion of the vaccine in Texas is not yet administered. We know you have valid reasons why this has happened in some cases, but we also know that every day there is a vaccine on the shelf is another day. that prolongs the pandemic, “Dr. John Hellerstedt, Texas’ top health official, said in a letter to clinics last week.
In Florida, local health departments are asking for patience telephone lines accident and health workers line up overnight outside the vaccination sites, competing with other residents claiming the shots.
“Empty pockets”
The struggle to distribute millions of doses of vaccine comes after a year that had already extended public health budgets. “These health departments are entering the vaccine distribution period with empty pockets. They didn’t get enough money from the original COVID supplementary funds,” Tremmel Freeman said.
The Trump administration has promoted the $ 480 million given to local jurisdictions for flu and COVID vaccines in September and December, with Operation Warp Speed providing syringes and other supplies to vaccinators across the country.
State and local health authorities will receive help with the recently passed COVID-19 relief law, which appropriated billions for vaccine development and distribution, although Tremmel Freeman said the money was not yet due. reach out to leading health care providers trying to increase their vaccination. programs quickly.
“I haven’t seen any language that holds anyone accountable for making sure the money goes beyond the state level to the community deeply to help with that effort. We saw this happen with testing and tracking and we watched the disaster go on. have, ”added Tremmel Freeman.
The timing of the deployment of the vaccine has also clashed with the Christmas and New Year holidays, which have reduced the workforce.
“There are two holidays, there have been three big snowstorms, there is everyone working, you know, how to make the notification, how to make sure we are managing it the right way,” Perna said on Wednesday.
The public now has a clearer view of how the vaccine is being distributed: On Wednesday, the CDC unveiled a new virus distribution tracker that allows users to see how many doses have been distributed and administered each day.