Leading health experts rejected suggestions that the United States could “space out” the second injection of coronavirus vaccines to deal with perceived delivery problems.
President Trump and Operation Warp Speed continually proclaimed that they could vaccinate 20 million people by the end of December: in reality, the program saw almost 3 million people receive the first injection of a two-dose program.
With cases popping up across the country, some suggested that the United States could follow the United Kingdom’s plan and space out the shots – abandoning the second shots so that more people could receive the first.
Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Moncef Slaoui (AP Photos)
Dr. Anthony Fauci immediately dismissed the idea, saying it is “the right solution to the wrong question”. He further stressed that there is no data on what happens if the second injection is not administered.
“The issue of giving people and not having a guarantee that you will get a second chance goes against science,” said Fauci to Meet the Press presenter Chuck Todd. “The idea of extending the time so that you can give it to more people, that is, if you don’t have enough vaccine and you have people in line to get the vaccine.”
Later, Fauci said that a partial blockade like the one being made in California “was not out of the question”.
“We hope we don’t have to do it across the country, because we feel that if you adhere to public health measures, you can reverse things without a uniform block,” said Fauci.
Operation Warp Speed advisor Dr. Moncef Slaoui echoed Fauci’s position, insisting that “it is unreasonable” to change vaccine programs.
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“We have no data after a dose – if we leave it for a month, two months, three months – with perhaps incomplete immunity, perhaps even with the wrong immune response,” Fauci told Face the Nation presenter Margaret Brennan.
“Changing the decisions made, the choices made, which was to give two doses of the vaccine – the second dose gives 10 times more immune response – without the data I don’t think I would be responsible”.
The two experts remained firm in their insistence that the vaccine is being distributed according to schedule: instead, it is a matter of getting people to get the vaccine.
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Slaoui insisted that all distribution targets were met, with all states “receiving their distribution” of vaccines.
When pressed about what Operation Warp Speed can do to help increase the real absorption of vaccines, Slaoui said it was a problem for states to decide how to use the vaccines.
“I don’t think we can identify exactly which long-term care unit or which CVS store should receive which vaccine or how much vaccine,” explained Slaoui. “This must be done by people who have granular knowledge of their population, their movements.”
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Both Fauci and Slaoui cited that 1.5 million doses were administered in the past 72 hours, claiming that this increase in vaccinations proves that the program is meeting its targets.