General of the US Army apologizes for a “communication problem” with the number of doses of vaccines to be delivered

The General of United States Army responsible for the distribution system of vaccinations against him COVID-19 he publicly apologized today, Saturday, for what he classified as a “lack of communication” situation with states over the number of doses they would receive in the early stages of distribution.

“I have failed. I am adapting. I am fixing (what has happened) and we will move on,” General Gustave Perna emphasized during a conference call.

Perna spoke a day after Food and Drug Administration (FDA, for the acronym in English) approved the request to use the vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company Moderna to combat the disease in an emergency that has claimed the lives of more than 312,000 Americans.

At this time, it is not known whether this reduction in the projection of available doses will affect the vials intended to continue the vaccination process in Puerto Rico, which began last week.

Governors of at least a dozen states indicated that the federal government has warned them of the possibility that upcoming shipments of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech will contain fewer doses than originally planned.

Perna accepted criticism and responsibility for the situation.

“I want to take personal responsibility for the communication problem. I am responsible … this is a huge effort and we are not perfect, ”Perna emphasized.

The general indicated that he made mistakes when talking about the number of doses he thought would be ready.

‘I was the one who approved the forecast sheets. I was the one who approved the distribution plans. There is no problem with the (delivery) process, and no problem with the Pfizer vaccine. There is no problem with Moderna’s vaccine, ”Perna stressed.

There is a clear distinction between the number of doses manufactured and the number of doses ready to be delivered. First, the product must undergo rigorous quality and sterility controls, a process that can take up to a month, as explained by the Federal Department of Health.

The FDA must then receive a certificate of analysis 48 hours before the manufacturer ships the boxes containing the vials.

Perna noted that the federal government is now on track to distribute approximately 20 million doses to the states between Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna products by the first week of January 2021.

The official added that 2.9 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech product have been delivered in the United States.