Several Democratic governors are criticizing the Trump administration for apparently misleading public health officials about maintaining a stockpile of Covid-19 vaccines in reserve.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Tuesday that the government would begin releasing doses of the vaccine that were being kept in “physical reserve” to ensure sufficient supplies for the second doses.
Both vaccines approved by the federal government, made by Pfizer and Moderna, are administered in two doses with an interval of several weeks.
The Washington Post reported on Friday that, despite Azar’s comments, there is no such federal stockpile of vaccines. The newspaper, citing state and federal officials, said the Trump administration had already started shipping its available stock in December.
Democratic state leaders say the lack of a federal reserve will undermine plans to increase the speed and reach of their vaccination campaigns.
“Last night, I received disturbing news, confirmed to me directly by General Perna of Operation Warp Speed: states will no longer receive vaccine shipments from the national stock next week because there is no federal dose reserve,” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown wrote in a post on Twitter, referring to Army General Gus Perna, chief of operations for Operation Warp Speed.
“This is a nationwide mistake,” added Brown. “Oregon veterans, teachers, all of us, depended on the promise that part of the federal vaccine reserve in Oregon would be released to us.”
Washington Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, also took the stage, saying the government “must immediately answer for this mistake”.
“I am shocked that they lied and there is no national reserve,” Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, wrote on Twitter.
He said that the federal announcement on the release of the stock “prompted us to expect 210,000 doses next week” and that other governors had made similar plans.
“Now we find out that we will only get 79,000 in the next week,” wrote Polis.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, said at a news conference that “they were lying”, referring to the federal government.
Walz and Democratic Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Tony Evers of Wisconsin said in a joint statement on Friday that “it has become quite clear that not only did the Trump administration spoil the launch of the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, but also that the American people were deceived about these delays. “
Governors have requested permission to purchase vaccines directly from manufacturers.
“Without additional supplies or authorization to buy directly, our states may be forced to cancel plans for public vaccination clinics in the coming weeks, which are expected to vaccinate tens of thousands. It’s time for the Trump administration to do the right thing and help us end this pandemic, “wrote the governors.
Azar responded to the governors on a topic on Twitter on Saturday, calling his allegations “completely misleading” and a “degradation”.
“We had a stock of second doses reserved as of December. We started releasing these second doses in late December so that people could receive their second doses. Progressively, we continue with this release ”, wrote Azar.
The head of HHS said this week’s announcement “was that we are releasing the remaining second reserved doses according to the established cadence – ensuring that the second doses would be available at the right interval – and that from now on we would no longer have a second reserve. doses. “
“The effort by some governors to trick the American people to distract themselves from their own shortcomings in distribution is unfortunate,” said Azar, referring to data showing that Michigan, Oregon and Wisconsin have not yet administered most of the vaccines they have already had been distributed to those states.
The Trump administration has struggled with Democratic state officials since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, primarily because of the provision of tests and other medical equipment and, more recently, the distribution of vaccines.
President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office on Wednesday, has promised to elevate the role of the federal government in the distribution of vaccines. Biden promised to have 100 million doses of the vaccine administered in his first 100 days in office.
So far, vaccination efforts have fallen far short of official predictions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 12 million doses have been administered. Health officials expected to increase that number to 20 million in January.
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