The coronavirus vaccine will not be widely available in U.S. pharmacies by the end of February, as previously promised, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
“As part of our plan, we are going to put the vaccine in the pharmacy. Will it be in every pharmacy in this country by that timeline? I don’t think so, ”Dr. Rochelle Walensky told the“ Today Show ”.
“I don’t think we’ll get a vaccine in every pharmacy in this country by the end of February.”
In mid-December, Alex Azar, secretary of the Trump Administration, Health and Human Services, had told CNBC: Enough supply to reach the general public for administration – at your CVS, Walgreens, Kroegers – by the end of February to March. ”
Walensky reiterated the Biden administration’s promise to distribute 100 million doses in the first 100 days, saying it will work to speed up and smooth out the production and distribution of the life-saving shots.
“After 100 days, there are still a lot of Americans who need a vaccine, so we’re kicking it off to make sure we get as much vaccine as possible,” she said. “We recognize that this is the most immediate emergency to restore this country to health.”
She said CDC officials had been working for weeks to ensure that “ vaccine eligibility matches the supply ” and that there are enough medical workers at inoculation sites.
“The whole foundation for how we roll out vaccines must be based on fairness and that’s what we’re committed to,” she added.
In early December, an official from Trump’s Operation Warp Speed said he hoped to immunize 100 million people by the end of February.
“Between mid-December and the end of February, we immunized potentially 100 million people,” said Moncef Slaoui, the surgery’s scientific advisor.
According to the CDC, the US had administered 17.5 million doses of vaccine since Thursday.