Officials in several states have said the federal government has told them to expect fewer doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine next week than initially expected.
The big picture: Some 2.9 million doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine were shipped this week when the US launched its largest vaccination campaign in the country’s history. Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, said on Wednesday that another 2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 5.9 million doses of the Moderna vaccine could be assigned next week, per CNBC.
- A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Thursday recommended approval of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use. According to the New York Times, the vaccine could receive an emergency permit as early as Friday.
What they say:
- Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) tweeted Thursday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “has informed us that WA’s vaccination allocation will be cut by 40 percent next week – and that all states are seeing similar cuts. ”
- “This is disturbing and frustrating. We need accurate, predictable numbers to plan and ensure success on the ground. No explanation was given,” added Inslee.
- Government of Illinois, JB Pritzker (D) said Wednesday that according to “General Perna’s direction of Operation Warp Speed, that estimate was tightened significantly to 4.3 million doses shipped nationally next week. now also scheduled to raise 4.3 million, ”reported NBC 5Chicago.
- “I no longer believe any projections that the federal government is presenting to us,” Pritzker added. “That said, we hope they are correct.”
- A spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Axios told the state the state is expected to receive fewer doses than initially expected next week. “We received no explanation,” said Lynn Sutfin in an emailed statement.
- A spokesperson for Iowa’s Department of Public Health said in a statement Wednesday that the federal government told state officials that Iowa “and all other states will not receive the amount of vaccine that was initially provided.”
- “It looks like our allocation could be reduced by as much as 30%, but we are working on getting confirmation and additional details from our federal partners. It will take some time to go through the next steps and adjust our schedule” Sarah Ekstrand added. .
- Officials in Maryland also said they expected a reduction in the number of doses they were expected to receive, according to the Baltimore Sun.
- Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said in a press conference on Thursday that his team was still trying to figure out what would be assigned to the state. The federal government “did tell us that while these were projections, they would give us confirmation every Friday” of what would be shipped the following week.
- Hogan added that the reductions “don’t seem to affect our first batches for a week or two.”
An HHS spokesperson said in an emailed statement that “reports that jurisdictional allocations are being reduced are incorrect. As with the initial shipments of the Pfizer vaccine, jurisdictions will receive vaccines at different locations for several days.”
- Operation Warp Speed allocation numbers set in states have not been changed or updated. Only three official allocations have been issued to states: Week 1 Pfizer allocations were issued on Friday, November 20; week 1 Moderna allocations were issued on Friday, November 27 and Week 2 Pfizer allocations were given on Tuesday, December 15. Those are the only official allocation numbers that have been provided, ” the spokesperson added.
- “Operation Warp Speed remains on track to allocate enough vaccine to approximately 20 million Americans to receive their first doses by the end of the month, pending receipt of an EUA.”
- McClatchy later reported on Thursday that Tiberius, a Pentagon system used by states to track vaccines, had “outdated, inaccurate predictions for deliveries.”
- “Tiberius has been online for a few months now, and it’s where a lot of the exercise and scheduling modules were where they could see possible assignments,” a federal official told McClatchy. “The problem is they kept those training and planning modules in there, and that’s what people were looking at last week.”
- The Pentagon referred Axios to HHS for comment.
Pfizer said in a statement Wednesday that it has millions of doses “in our warehouse, but as of now we have not received shipping instructions for additional doses.”
- “We have continuously shared every aspect of our manufacturing and distribution capabilities with Operation Warp Speed (OWS) and the US Department of Health and Human Services through weekly meetings. our production schedule, as information has become available, ”added Pfizer.
- Pfizer’s statement came after Azar told CNBC on Wednesday that the company should keep the Trump administration at bay in terms of manufacturing its vaccine.
Go deeper: Additional doses of Pfizer vaccine could increase supply in the US
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include the statement of HHS and McClatchy’s reporting on Tiberius.