The Trump administration has fallen far short of its initial promise to vaccinate 20 million Americans by the end of 2020, with less than 3 million people receiving COVID-19 vaccines out of the 14 million doses that have been shipped. Local healthcare providers responsible for the last kilometer of vaccine administration are understaffed and exhausted by the ongoing battle against the pandemic, and limited resources, priority plans and mistakes have also hampered the national vaccination effort. .
The first sign that the administration was overpromised came in late December, when officials changed their commitment – from vaccinating 20 million Americans by the end of the year to swearing to “make vaccine doses available” at 20 million. Moncef Slaoui, the top adviser on the federal vaccination effort known as Operation Warp Speed, acknowledged this month that “the end of immunizations – blows to the arms – is slower than I thought it would be.”
“This number is lower than I expected,” Slaoui admitted at a briefing on Wednesday. He challenged anyone who could “help us to further improve the administration of the vaccine to come to the table, roll up their sleeves and come to help us with specific ideas.”
Department of Health and Human Services he said Tuesday allocated 19.88 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of December. But the allocation is not the same as the delivery of doses. Allocated vaccines need to continue to be shipped to state-selected destinations and, in some cases, redistributed by state and local health authorities before vaccine-providing healthcare providers can begin preparing their first doses.
“We will get the vaccines out as soon as they are available,” said Gustave Perna, the army general in charge of overseeing the logistics of vaccine distribution.
Although both vaccine manufacturers and federal officials insist there were no major delays in producing or distributing the first 20 million doses, only 70% of the promised vaccines were shipped. Some suppliers reported that they started receiving the first deliveries from the state redistribution centers only this week – days after they had hoped to start vaccinations..
States have received fewer doses of the vaccine than they were originally allocated by the federal government. Earlier this month, Perna apologized for “misreporting” vaccine allocations; he had reviewed the number of doses to be sent to states after receiving more information from Pfizer about what was available.
“This is disruptive and frustrating. We need accurate and predictable numbers to plan and ensure success on the ground,” said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. then.
Washington officials say they are among dozens of states whose vaccine shipments have been reduced – by 40 percent – by federal authorities, although the issue appears to have been addressed. Inslee later praised Perna for his “candor” in explaining the issue, saying “There is no indication that further reductions could take place. 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 their first dose of COVID-19 Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, although the CDC warned that immunization figures were “one day or more. two behind ”.
Vaccine providers have 72 hours to submit data On their vaccinations, Dr. Nancy Messonier, CDC’s chief COVID-19 vaccine official, said Wednesday that she considers “the fact that when looking so fast to vaccinate people, it may take them a while to could enter all data. ”
It has not been easy for vaccine providers to navigate the priority-setting levels set out in state and federal guidelines, balancing vaccine prioritization requests for health care workers against the pressure to manage fires quickly.
Vaccinators have he was also frustrated by the launch in long-term care institutions, following disagreements over consent requirements, has affected the launch of vaccination programs by pharmacy chains such as CVS and Walgreens. Spokesmen for both companies said the consent snafu had been rectified, but declined to share specific figures on their vaccinations, which began last week nationwide.
But pharmacies have not yet begun vaccinating at long-term care facilities in some jurisdictions, Messonier said, because some clinics stay at doses until they have enough vaccine “for everyone in the unit who wanted the vaccine.”
The administration of the vaccine to people who are not on the list of top priorities also delays the reporting of who receives the vaccines. Recipients of the vaccine which seems to “cut the line” were outraged across the country, resulting in protests by front-line health workers at Stanford Medical Center and a New York investigation vaccine providers. On Monday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order to combat vaccinators who do not follow the population’s priority process, fining offenders up to $ 1 million and revoking all licenses, according to CBS New York.
In Southern California, a hospital defended its decision to vaccinate “non-frontline health care workers” after reporting that a Disney employee boasted that his connections had brought him a COVID-19 vaccine.
“Because the reconstituted Pfizer vaccine must be used within a few hours or disposed of, more doses have been given to non-front-line healthcare workers so that the valuable vaccine is not discarded,” said a spokesman for Redlands Community Hospital. , Nikyah Thomas-Pfeiffer, in a statement. .
While in Texas, officials asked vaccinators to “pivot” for the administration of doses to any “readily available and willing” residents, even though not all front-line health workers were vaccinated.
“It has become clear that a significant portion of the Texas vaccine may not be administered yet. We know you have good reasons why this has happened in some cases – but we also know that every day a vaccine is on the shelf is another day that prolongs the pandemic, “said Dr. John Hellerstedt, the highest Texas health official in a letter to clinics last week.
In Florida, local health departments are advocating for patience telephone lines accidents and health workers line up outside the vaccination sites overnight, competing with other residents who are crying for the shootings.
“Empty pockets”
The struggle to distribute millions of doses of vaccine comes after a year that has already stretched public health budgets. “These health departments are entering the vaccine distribution period, with their pockets already empty. They have not received enough money from the original COVID additional funds,” said Tremmel Freeman.
The Trump administration supported the $ 480 million given to local jurisdictions for flu vaccinations and COVID 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 aid from the recently approved COVID-19 bill, which has allocated billions for vaccine development and distribution, although Tremmel Freeman said the money has not yet reached first-line health providers who trying to boost his immunization. programs quickly.
“I have not seen any language to hold anyone accountable to ensure that the money exceeds the state level in the deep community to help with this effort. We have seen this happen with testing and tracking and we are analyzing the disaster that took place there, “added Tremmel Freeman.
The timing of the vaccine launch also clashed with the Christmas and New Year holidays, which strained the workforce.
“There are two holidays, there have been three major snowstorms, everyone is working, you know, how to make the notification, how to make sure we manage it correctly,” 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.