“They will take advantage of the learning curve,” said Vijay Samant, a former Merck executive who oversaw the production of three successful vaccines during his tenure. Samant said vaccine manufacturers had months to resolve supply bottlenecks and that production was always designed to accelerate in the coming months – an advantage for the Biden government.
“They can get a lot of credit because suddenly, doses of the vaccine are going to become available and it’s like, ‘Oh, well, we did it,” said Samant. “Let me tell you, this is how it works. They are on the right side of the curve.”
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, a Democrat, seemed equally optimistic on Thursday, predicting that vaccine supplies will increase rapidly in February and March. The governor just called Pfizer, during which the company “reiterated its plan to significantly increase production in February,” said the governor’s spokesman Max Reiss. Much of this increase is taking place even before the Biden government makes any moves under the Defense Production Act.
In an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” program, Biden’s chief medical advisor expressed confidence in the president’s once seemingly wide-ranging goal of vaccinating 100 million people in his first 100 days.
“I feel very confident that it will not be just that, but maybe even better,” said Fauci, adding that he had analyzed the contractual arrangements that were made. “The amount that will come in, we will be able to meet that goal.”
Still, there are still doubts about where the US vaccine supply is currently. The new administration was trumpeting robust federal plans to launch large vaccination sites and deploy mobile units in hard-hit communities, while some states are canceling consultations at existing vaccination sites, citing a lack of vaccine supplies.
Biden’s team said it was becoming somewhat blinded to the vaccine supply and how it was distributed across the country. A source close to the transition told CNN that Biden’s team was denied access to the critical resources they needed to accurately measure supply and prepare to take over the deployment before Biden took office.
“Cooperation or a lack of cooperation funds from the Trump administration has been an impediment,” White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters. “So we don’t have the visibility that we would like to have on delivery and allocations.”
To be sure, there is still not enough vaccine available – in the United States or worldwide – and the United States has stumbled on getting vaccines quickly. But the Biden administration also appears to be trying to manage expectations, overturning the confusion the Trump administration has left behind while calculating what concrete steps it can take to improve vaccine manufacturing and distribution.
The Biden government has not clearly articulated what it is doing to immediately improve the supply of vaccines, except for task agencies looking for opportunities to use the Defense Production Act.
Biden “remains absolutely committed to invoking the Defense Production Act in order to obtain the supply and materials needed to bring the vaccine to Americans across the country and remains committed to its goal of getting 100 million shots into the arms of Americans in the first 100 days, “White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday.
The White House did not address how they would communicate or work with states, but in a statement to CNN spokesman Kevin Munoz reiterated that they would be “listening to states’ unique needs and adapting federal government resources and guidelines accordingly to make sure they’re putting vaccines in Americans’ arms as quickly and safely as possible. “
White House officials said they asked the Department of Health and Human Services to look for any potential sources of a type of syringe that may help to extract more doses of the Pfizer vaccine from each vial. On Thursday, Biden said he would sign an executive order to use the Defense Production Act to target federal agencies and private industries to “speed up the manufacture of everything needed to protect, test and vaccinate and care for our people” .
A former government official told CNN that the Trump administration had already implemented the Defense Production Act to help each of the six vaccine manufacturers, as well as in needle and syringe contracts.
“We will be working with careful and careful attention to all components of the supply chain to ensure that manufacturing maintains what we need,” Tim Manning, Covid’s supply coordinator for the White House, told reporters. “The Defense Production Act is a powerful tool – a powerful set of tools – and there are many ways to use it to help ensure that there are adequate and growing supplies of vaccine.”
Samant, the vaccine specialist, said it would be better for the administration to focus on the availability of raw materials like lipids, rather than specialized syringes.
“It’s the most ridiculous thing to pursue,” Samant said of the increase in needle production, adding that such a move could, at best, improve the vaccine supply by 5%.
For Biden’s team, it is crucial to understand how much inventory is available and how much could be realistically available in the coming months. States have said they need clear and consistent guidance on vaccine delivery so they can continue to streamline their vaccination programs.
“We will work to provide projections on the offer. We have heard repeatedly from local governors and leaders that they simply do not know what offer is coming and cannot plan. We will do this in the next few days to put our arms around what is happening, that we are communicating with states and localities so that they can effectively prepare, ”added Zients.
According to a health officer involved in the vaccine distribution process, hospitals that received the Modern vaccine complained of being completely in the dark when they were receiving it and how much they were receiving, and in some cases, were sent in confusion when receiving surprise shipments. . Moderna declined to comment.
All of these problems are now falling directly into the lap of the new administration.
Some state officials said they are already concerned about the government’s plan to distribute vaccines and communicate with states.
Under the previous administration, then Vice President Mike Pence and members of the Covid task force made regular calls to the country’s governors during most of the pandemic. While some governors found the calls largely useless, they could at least rely on the instructions as an opportunity to listen to senior medical experts and ask questions of the government.
The day after Biden took office, state officials told CNN that there is still a lot of confusion about how states will be working and communicating with the Biden government, as the pandemic continues to escalate and vaccine delivery is terribly behind schedule.
According to a Republican state official, the National Association of Governors has contacted some of its governors about working with the Biden government at Covid. However, not all governors are members of the organization and it is still unclear how the administration plans to work with those outside the association.
A Democratic state official said they also had no regular communication with the new government.
Dr. Bechara Choucair, vaccination coordinator for the White House, contacted some governors, but did not define how the government would handle the distribution of vaccines.
Biden said on Thursday that each state would have a contact with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
But at a news conference on Thursday, Psaki could not offer more details on how the Biden government will improve communications with states.
Covid’s new team, she said, “will engage with governors, Democrats and Republicans, mayors and elected local officials to gain a better understanding of what is happening on the ground.”