The Trump administration announced this week they would release their vaccine reserves to speed up distribution across the country. Unfortunately the vaccine reserve had already been depleted, dashing hopes of expanded access.
In the next example of a botched pandemic response, the Trump Administration announced that all vaccine reserves would be distributed to states across the nation, allowing states to expand access to the vaccine. Unfortunately, it was discovered today that there were no reserves, as this supply had already been distributed. States that expected to see their doses double, will instead remain flat.
On Tuesday, Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services stated “we are releasing the entire supply we have for order by states, rather than holding second doses in physical reserve.” However, The Washington Post reports that “In an email that reached some state officials on Friday morning, Christopher Sharpsten, an Operation Warp Speed director, called it a ‘false rumor that ‘the federal government was holding back vaccine doses in warehouses to guarantee a second/booster dose.'”
People who have already received their first vaccine dose are expected to get their second doses on schedule. “But state officials say they are angry and bewildered by the shifting directions and changing explanations of supply,” The Washington Post reports.
Oregon Health Director Patrick M. Allen stated, ““If true, this is extremely disturbing, and puts our plans to expand eligibility at grave risk,” Allen added. “Those plans were made on the basis of reliance on your statement about ‘releasing the entire supply’ you have in reserve.”
When there are additional vaccine doses, here is how to know when and how to get the vaccine.
Read more at The Washington Post and CNN.
