Boxes of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine are being prepared for shipment to the Pfizer Global Supply Kalamazoo plant on December 13, 2020 in Portage, Michigan.
Morry Gash | Getty Images
The Biden administration is increasing the number of Covid-19 vaccine doses sent to states weekly, 13.5 million doses this week and doubling the number going to pharmacies, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.
Since last week, the government has been sending 11 million doses to the states every week. Overall, Psaki noted, the government has increased the number of doses sent to states each week by 57% since President Joe Biden was inaugurated on Jan. 20.
Psaki also announced that the White House is doubling the number of doses shipped directly to pharmacies across the country, from 1 million shipped to 6,500 pharmacies last week. Psaki said the White House will ship 2 million doses per week to stores in the future and plans to eventually expand to 40,000 stores nationwide.
“This program will expand access to neighborhoods across the country, so people can call and book appointments and take a photo easily and quickly,” she said. “This is a critical, critical part of our plan.”
The administration has announced a gradual increase in the amount of vaccines distributed each week, while opening new distribution channels such as pharmacies, community health centers, and federally run vaccination centers. After a slower-than-expected release of the vaccine, many states now say the lack of supply from the federal government is the biggest limitation.
The rate of vaccination across the country has increased in recent weeks and the difference between the divided doses and the doses administered has narrowed. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 52.8 million doses have been delivered as of Sunday out of the 70 million doses delivered to states.
Biden announced last week that the US has secured 100 million additional doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 100 million more of the Moderna vaccine, bringing the total US supply to 600 million doses. The Food and Drug Administration is also expected to approve Johnson & Johnson’s one-time Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use as soon as possible later this month.
This is unlikely to be an immediate boon, but it will help increase the number of doses available to Americans in the late spring and summer. Dr. Anthony Fauci, a White House health adviser, said on Tuesday that the vaccine could be available to any American who wants it by May, slightly later than his earlier prediction to access the vaccine in April.
“It may take until June, July and August for everyone to finally be vaccinated,” he said said on CNN“So when you hear how long it will take for the vast majority of the population to be vaccinated, I don’t think anyone would disagree that that will be good until the end of summer and we are coming in early fall. . “