NIH did not respond to a request for comment.
Given the lack of vaccine supply, there is a possibility that the NIH will direct its staff to be vaccinated at local pharmacies, an NIH official told POLITICO.
Last week, the NIH was informed that it would not be included in federal vaccine allocations sent to agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control, the official added. As a result, NIH spent the week working with the Maryland Department of Health and the Maryland Hospital Association on its possible vaccine allocation.
“The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) is allocating all doses of vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna to Maryland hospitals as well as long-term care facilities,” said Bob Atlas, the hospital’s general manager, in a statement. . The NIH Clinic is located in Bethesda and the federal government has asked MDH to include that site in the allocation of designated Maryland vaccines.
Amy Goodwin, a spokeswoman for the hospital association, confirmed that the NIH was not in the initial batch of vaccine recipients. The hospital association was also told not to wait for any dose of Moderna vaccine until the end of next week, pending authorization of the vaccine, although the timing could change, Goodwin said.
An increasing number of government officials received the Covid-19 vaccine, including Vice President Mike Pence and Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who received it publicly on Friday. The White House told reporters last week that NIH officials and staff will have priority, although an NIH official said Friday that there is no real plan to ensure that this will happen.
An official with the Department of Health and Human Services disputed that, saying Collins NIH was given the opportunity to work with federal officials earlier this week to make sure the doses were allocated to his agency, but failed to do so. follow.
Fauci said on Friday morning that he was “ready to go” and eager to receive the vaccine as soon as possible.
“I’ll be vaccinated as soon as I can,” Fauci told NBC’s “Today.” “I hope it will be in the next few days until the beginning of next week.”