Under immense criticism about the slow rollout of the COVID vaccine, Health, and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said this week that we are now “moving to the next phase of the vaccine program.” Just three days ago he told ABC News, “We have already made available every dose of vaccine. So we had been holding back second doses as a safety stock…. So everything is now available.” But the Washington Post says in reality “no such reserve existed.”
Now, health officials across the country who had anticipated their extremely limited vaccine supply as much as doubling beginning next week are confronting the reality that their allocations will not immediately increase, dashing hopes of dramatically expanding access for millions of elderly people and those with high-risk medical conditions.
There are reports that people in numerous states who had appointments for vaccines are getting alerted that their appointments are now canceled.
The NY Daily News cites a spokesperson for Manhattan’s Mount Sinai Hospital as saying:
“Unfortunately, due to sudden changes in vaccine supply, we have been forced to cancel our existing public vaccination appointments from Friday, Jan. 15, through Tuesday, Jan. 19.”
It’s a similar story in Miami, Florida where, according the Miami Herald, Frank Rollason, Miami-Dade’s emergency director said:
“As of right now, Miami-Dade County has not received any vaccine allocation for this current week to maintain our vaccination [sites] nor will we receive any for next week. Bottom line — with what we currently have on-hand, we will be out of vaccine early next week and shut down until the State provides another supply.”
The Biden administration vows to try to kick vaccine distribution into high speed with 100 million vaccines in 100 days. Today the New York Times reports that Biden “has chosen Dr. David Kessler to help lead Operation Warp Speed, the program to accelerate development of Covid-19 vaccines and treatments, according to transition officials.”
In the late fall, Dr. Kessler warned Mr. Biden that Operation Warp Speed was not prepared for getting the shots into people’s arms. The transition team said last week that the president-elect intended to create vaccination sites in high school gyms, convention centers and mobile units to reach high-risk populations.
Biden’s team is expected to share more details are expected later today.