The Trump administration has fallen far behind its initial pledge to vaccinate 20 million Americans by the end of 2020, with less than 3 million people receiving COVID-19 vaccinations out of the 14 million doses sent. Local health care providers responsible for the last mile of vaccine delivery are under-staffed and exhausted from the ongoing fight against the pandemic, and limited resources, priority plans and errors have also hampered the nationwide vaccination effort.
The first sign that the government had promised too much came in late December, when officials changed their pledge – from vaccinating 20 million Americans by the end of the year to the pledge to “make vaccine doses available” to 20 million. The top advisor for the federal vaccination effort known as Operation Warp Speed, Moncef Slaoui, admitted this month that “the completion of vaccinations – shots in the arms – is slower than we thought it would be.”
“That number is lower than we had hoped,” Slaoui acknowledged again during a briefing on Wednesday. He challenged anyone who “can help us further improve the vaccine delivery, come to the table, roll up our sleeves and help us with specific ideas.”
The Health and Human Services Department said Tuesday it has allocated 19.88 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine up to the end of December. But allocation is not the same as delivering the doses. Assigned vaccines still have to be shipped to destinations selected by states and in some cases re-distributed by state and local health authorities before healthcare providers giving the injections can begin preparing their first doses.
“We will deliver the vaccines as soon 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 that there have been no major delays in the production or distribution of the first 20 million doses, only 70% of promised vaccines have been shipped. Some providers have reported that they only started receiving their first shipments from state redistribution hubs this week – days after hoping to start vaccinations.
States have received fewer vaccine doses than they were initially assigned by the federal government. Earlier this month, Perna apologized for his “miscommunication” over vaccine allocation; he had revised the number of doses to be sent to some states after receiving more information from Pfizer about what was available.
“This is disturbing and frustrating. We need accurate, predictable numbers to plan and deliver success on the ground,” said Washington Governor Jay Inslee. at that moment.
Washington officials said they were among the dozens of states whose vaccine shipments had been cut by federal authorities – by 40% in their case – although this particular problem appears to have been resolved. Inslee later praised Perna for his ‘candor’ in explaining the matter, saying “There is no indication that further reductions will take place. That is good news.”
Administering the vaccine
Data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that as of Thursday, only 2,794,588 people had received their first dose of either Moderna or the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech, although the CDC warned that the immunization rates “took a day or two. behind “layers.
Vaccine providers are given 72 hours to submit data about their vaccinations, of which Dr. Nancy Messonier, the CDC’s top COVID-19 vaccine official, said on Wednesday that they take into account “that when they are looking to vaccinate people so quickly, it may take them some time to get all the data.”
It has not been easy for vaccine providers to navigate the layers of priority established in state and federal guidelines, balancing the demands to prioritize vaccines for health professionals against the pressure to administer injections quickly.
Have vaccines also frustrated by the rollout in long-term care settings, after misunderstandings about consent requirements plagued the launch of the vaccination programs by pharmacy chains such as CVS and Walgreens. Spokespersons for both companies said snafu’s consent has been straightened, but declined to share specific numbers about their vaccinations, which began nationwide last week.
But pharmacies have yet to begin vaccinations in long-term care facilities in some jurisdictions, Messonier said, as some clinics hold doses until they have enough vaccine “for everyone in the facility who wants the vaccine.”
Administering the vaccine to people not on the top priority list also slows reporting on who is receiving the injections. Recipients of vaccines seemingly “cut the line” Received outrage across the country, resulting in protests from primary care health workers at Stanford Medical Center and an investigation into a number of New York City vaccine suppliers. According to CBS New York, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order to fine vaccinators who do not follow the priority process of up to $ 1 million and revoke all permits.
In Southern California, a hospital defended its decision to vaccinate “non-primary health workers” after reports that a Disney employee bragged that her connections had gotten her a COVID-19 vaccination.
“Because the reconstituted Pfizer vaccine must be used or disposed of within hours, different doses were administered to non-primary health care workers so that valuable vaccine would not be thrown away,” said Nikyah Thomas-Pfeiffer, a spokesman for Redlands Community Hospital in a statement. statement. .
While in Texas, officials urged vaccinators to “run” to administer doses to all “readily available and willing” residents, even though not all primary care health workers had been vaccinated.
“It has become clear that a significant portion of the vaccine may not be administered in Texas yet. We know you have valid reasons why this has happened in some cases – but we also know that every day a vaccine is on the shelf is a Another is the day that extends the pandemic, ”said Dr. John Hellerstedt, Texas’ top health officer, in a letter to clinics last week.
In Florida, local health departments are begging for patience if telephone lines Crash and health workers line up outside vaccination sites at night, competing with other residents screaming for the shots.
“Empty pockets”
The battle to distribute millions of vaccine doses comes after a year of already pushing up public health budgets. “These health departments are already starting the vaccine distribution period with empty pockets. They were not getting enough money from the original additional COVID funds,” said Tremmel Freeman.
The Trump Administration has touted the $ 480 million it gave to local jurisdictions in September and December for flu and COVID vaccinations, with Operation Warp Speed supplying syringes and other supplies to vaccinators across the country.
State and local health authorities will get some help from the recently passed COVID-19 emergency bill, which has allocated billions to vaccine development and distribution, although Tremmel Freeman said the money had not yet reached primary health care providers trying to step up their immunization . programs quickly.
“I haven’t seen any language that holds anyone accountable for making sure the money goes beyond the state level deep into the community to help with this effort. We saw this happening with testing and tracing, and looking at the disaster that took place there, ”added Tremmel Freeman.
The timing of the vaccine rollout has also collided with the Christmas and New Year holidays, which have depleted the manpower.
“There have been two holidays, there have been three major snowstorms, everyone is working on it, you know, how to make the report, how to make sure we deliver it properly,” Perna said Wednesday.
The public now has a clearer picture of how the vaccine is 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.