The boxes containing the Modern COVID-19 vaccine are ready to be shipped to the McKesson distribution center in Olive Branch, Mississippi, USA, December 20, 2020.
Paul Sancya | Reuters
The federal government is changing the way it allocates doses of the coronavirus vaccine, now based on how quickly states can administer vaccines and the size of their elderly population, said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar , on Tuesday.
The states will have two weeks to prepare for the move, Azar told reporters at a news conference. This should give states sufficient time to improve their data reporting to the government and ensure that all vaccinations are documented “promptly”, he said.
States are not publicizing vaccinations in a timely manner, said Azar, adding that doses of the vaccine “are kept in hospital freezers.”
The announcement comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issue new guidelines that expand the eligibility of the coronavirus vaccine for everyone aged 65 and over, as well as for those with comorbidities, such as diabetes and heart disease. The states’ focus on vaccinating health workers and nursing homes has created a bottleneck, slowing the pace of vaccinations, a senior government official told CNBC.
“States should not wait to complete the prioritization of phase 1a before proceeding to broader categories of eligibility,” said Azar on Tuesday, explaining the new orientation. “Think of it as boarding a plane. You can have a sequential order in which you board people. But don’t wait until literally everyone in one group is boarded before moving on to the next.”
The government will also stop retaining millions of doses reserved for the second round of two-dose vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, the official said, adding that it released doses that were reserved on Sunday. President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team announced a similar plan on Friday.
Vaccine doses were previously allocated based on the number of adults in each state. But American officials are complaining that the pace of vaccinations has been slow, as the supply of doses of the vaccine exceeds demand.
As of Monday morning, more than 25.4 million doses were delivered in the United States, but just over 8.9 million injections were administered, according to data from the CDC. The number is a far cry from the federal government’s goal of inoculating 20 million Americans by the end of 2020 and 50 million Americans by the end of this month.
This is a developing story. Please check again for updates.