The Trump administration will issue new guidelines on Tuesday extending the suitability of the coronavirus vaccine to anyone 65 and older, a senior official told CNBC.
The states’ focus on vaccinating health workers and nursing homes has created a bottleneck, the government official said. “The states are immediately told to expand to people over 65, as well as those under 65 with co-morbid conditions,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the formal announcement.
The administration will also stop withholding millions of doses reserved for the second round of injections of Pfizer and Moderna’s two-dose vaccines, the official said, adding that they released doses held in reserve on Sunday.
President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team announced on Friday that his government planned to release all doses held in reserve.
The Trump administration is expected to announce the change on Tuesday at a press conference with officials from Operation Warp Speed, the White House’s vaccine program.
US surgeon general Jerome Adams also confirmed the changes in an interview with Fox News Tuesday morning, saying that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s previous priority directives to states “actually caused governors and states to slow down a bit.”
“We will get clear guidelines from the CDC to governors that they should vaccinate people 65 and older and anyone under 64 who has a chronic medical condition,” he said.
US officials are trying to ramp up the pace of vaccinations after a slower-than-expected rollout.
Monday morning, there were more than 25.4 million doses across the US, but just over 8.9 million injections were delivered, according to data from the CDC. The number is a long way from the federal government’s goal of vaccinating 20 million Americans by the end of 2020 and 50 million Americans by the end of this month.
State and local health officials have said they are in jail for cash. They blame insufficient funding and inconsistent communication from the federal government for the slow rollout.
Democrats and some public health experts have criticized the government for its slow pace. In a letter Monday, Senate Democrats demanded that the government make changes, saying it has “failed” states by not providing detailed guidance on how to distribute the doses effectively.
The US “cannot afford that this vaccination campaign is still held back by the lack of planning, communication and leadership that we have seen so far,” wrote Senate leader Chuck Schumer and 44 other Democrats. “The benchmark that matters, and where we’re clearly moving too slowly, is guns in guns.”
In an effort to increase the pace of vaccinations, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Stephen Hahn, last week urged states to begin vaccinating lower-priority groups against Covid-19.
The CDC recommends immunizing health workers and nursing homes first, but states can distribute the vaccine as they see fit. Hahn told reporters states should shoot at groups that are “meaningful,” such as the elderly, those with pre-existing conditions, police, firefighters and other essential workers.
“We’ve heard in the press that some people have said, ‘Okay, I’m waiting for all of my health workers to get vaccinated. I think it’s reasonable to expand that “to other groups,” Hahn said Friday. “I would strongly encourage that we continue by giving states the opportunity to be more comprehensive in who they can give the vaccine.”
It is unclear whether extension of eligibility will accelerate the rate of vaccinations. Some states, including Texas and Florida, have already expanded their eligibility criteria.