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The weak federal supply remains the biggest obstacle to Virginia’s vaccination plan, according to the state’s director of vaccine deployment on Friday.
Virginia is making progress in getting doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the arms of residents, but the weak federal supply remains the biggest hurdle, according to the state’s director of vaccine deployment on Friday.
Dr Danny TK Avula, who was appointed to oversee Virginia’s vaccination efforts by Gov. Ralph Northam, told reporters on Friday afternoon that the state is currently receiving about 100,000 doses of vaccine per week.
When Avula was first appointed, he said Virginia’s goal was to get 50,000 doses delivered per day through mass vaccination sites staffed with National Guard personnel.
Establishing that infrastructure remains important, Avula said, but would be wasted without a higher supply of vaccines from the federal government.
Currently, Virginia distributes approximately 20,000 doses per day to residents of Phase 1a and 1b of the Commonwealth Priority Vaccine List. Avula said that at the current rate, it would take two to three months to cross these two groups, which make up about half of Virginia’s population.
Virginia is not alone in facing domestic supply shortages. The Associated Press reported that some states have canceled immunization appointments due to lack of supplies, and others have received quantities of the vaccine incompatible with what they were told to expect .
Maryland has also faced a supply problem, as the state has received approximately 10,000 doses of vaccine per day since the initial shipment and administered more than 15,000 doses per day. Despite this stoppage in supply, Gov. Larry Hogan allowed Maryland to travel to immunize residents in phase 1b last week and scheduled phase 1c to begin on Monday.
DC is similarly continuing its vaccination efforts despite a supply shortage. On Tuesday, the District announced that teachers and police officers will be eligible to receive the vaccine starting next week. Still, DC’s desperation for more doses was highlighted in that same announcement, which ended with an all-caps message that read “DC NEEDS MORE VACCINE.”
Abigail Constantino, Jack Pointer and Associated Press of WTOP contributed to this report.
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Looking for more information? DC, Maryland and Virginia each publish more data every day. Visit their official websites here: Virginia | Maryland | DC
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