Army General Gustave Perna, Operation Warp Speed’s chief operating officer, acknowledged in a Saturday briefing that there was a “miscommunication” with states over how many doses of Pfizers. COVID-19 vaccine would initially be available to them.
Perna’s briefing came next more than 10 states were told this week the number of doses of the vaccine they expected to receive next week has been reduced, with little information on why. Perna said he took “personal responsibility” for the miscommunication and said he needed to review the dose allocation to certain states after getting more information from Pfizer about the amount of vaccine available.
“Please accept my personal apologies if this interfered with your decision-making,” said Perna, addressing the state governors directly. He also said he would personally brief the governors on Monday.
“There is no problem with the process. There is no problem with the Pfizer vaccine. There is no problem with the Moderna vaccine. It was a scheduling error and I am responsible for that,” said Perna. He said he did not understand “exactly” all the steps that needed to take place before he could release all of the available vaccine.
Perna’s briefing came after the Food and Drug Administration approved the Moderna vaccine for emergencies on fridaynight. Perna said Operation Warp Speed would not “cut corners” in spreading the vaccine. He announced that distribution has started, with the rollout of FedEx and UPS trucks starting Sunday.
The Moderna vaccine is approved for people 18 years of age or older. Six million first doses will soon be shipped nationwide.
“With the availability of two vaccines for the prevention of COVID-19, the FDA has taken another critical step in the fight against this global pandemic that is causing massive numbers of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States every day,” said FDA Commissioner Stephen Said M. Hahn in a press release announcing the decision.
The Moderna vaccine is expected to be about 94.1% effective, comparable to Pfizer’s vaccine approved last week. But unlike Pfizer’s vaccine, Moderna does not need to be stored in freezing temperatures.