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Even if everything goes according to the federal government’s plan for the deployment of a coronavirus vaccine, many jurisdictions will initially receive only a fraction of the doses they need to cover their healthcare workers.
For example, the Minneapolis-St. State officials have told the Paul metropolitan area to wait 19,000 doses, which is enough to fully immunize about 9,500 people, as the vaccine requires a two-dose course 21 days apart. A source in the Twin Cities says he needs 57,000 doses just to cover his frontline health workers.
Earlier this week, governors across the country began learning how many doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine they should expect to receive when it begins shipping.
In a document obtained by CBS News, officials of the U.S. vaccination effort, dubbed Operation Warp Speed, say they are targeting December 14 as the day Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine will receive authorization for use of. FDA emergency. They say 6.4 million doses will be ready to ship within 24 hours of emergency approval.
The number of doses a state will receive will be based on its population aged 18 and over.
Maine Governor Janet Mills, Democrat, expressed disappointment with the number of doses her state would receive as part of Pfizer’s initial federal vaccine allocation. The roughly 12,000 doses would cover about 6,000 people, or about a third of the state’s healthcare workers.
“This is a real concern” because “our healthcare workforce here, like everywhere, is really short, the healthcare system is sort of down due to understaffing,” Mills said during a appeal with the White House coronavirus task force this week.
During the call, Gustave Perna, CEO of Operation Warp Speed, warned the governors that their projected allocation was preliminary and would be finalized when emergency clearance is granted.
The Moderna vaccine will be released the following week, on December 22, if that vaccine gets emergency clearance. It also requires a two-dose course.
The governors will decide who will receive the first doses. A Centers for Disease Control advisory committee voted on Tuesday to recommend that the vaccine be given to frontline healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities first – but for many states, that’s the time. ‘either.
An official in Connecticut said the state was considering giving the vaccine to residents of long-term care facilities first, as that is where deaths are most common.
“Our nursing homes have been tragically affected and we believe that rolling out vaccines to these residents first will have the most life-saving impact,” the official said. The state expects to receive 100,000 doses by the end of the year, as new shipments of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines arrive.
There is a catch, however.
Once they receive the vaccine from the federal government, states are responsible for distribution, a costly undertaking. Many states rely on public and local aid funding put in place by the CARES Act, but the money expires at the end of the year and Congress has yet to agree to an extension.
According to Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer of the Association of State and Territory Health Officials, which represents the interests of public health agencies across the country, states need funding for three key elements of the distribution: staff to administer the vaccine, computer systems to track vaccinations and doses, and public relations campaigns to convince the public to participate. Without help from the federal government, Plescia says states will be much slower to get the vaccine distributed.
“Our members are getting very impatient,” said Dr Plescia. “We can deploy this vaccine without additional funding, but it will take years. It’s very frustrating for the people of the states that we’ve spent billions of dollars developing this vaccine and advancing it, and now Congress is just shaking things up. “
Officials in five states told CBS News they were concerned about the consequences.
“It really should have been done several weeks ago,” a Utah official said of the need for new funding. “The lack of action has caused confusion in the states. With the deadline for spending being December 30, there are going to be significant costs that are going to be left to the states.”
Without new federal funding, officials say there will be fewer vaccination sites and they will have to rely more on already cash-strapped health systems to deliver the vaccine.
“It is crucial that Congress provide financial assistance to support vaccine distribution,” said Jackie Farwell of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. “We’re still thinking about what we would do without this support and without planning for all eventualities, but federal funding is critical to the success of this important endeavor.”
Other states are skeptical about seeing another infusion of funds from the federal government to help cover distribution costs.
“We are counting on the federal government to provide the vaccine, but not on them for additional funding for logistics,” said an official from Virginia, who then added, “that being said, we would take the money if it was offered. “
President Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday indicated their support for a bipartisan, bicameral coronavirus relief plan which would include help state and local governments. It is not yet known whether the White House will support him.
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York would receive an initial delivery of enough initial doses of COVID-19 vaccine for 170,000 New Yorkers on December 15 and expects more allowances from Pfizer and Moderna later in the month.
Although the vaccine allocation is “welcome” news, Cuomo criticized the federal vaccination plan because it “not only neglects black, brown and poor communities, but its data-sharing arrangements will deter the undocumented community. to get vaccinated “.
Not all states are ready to disclose the expected number of doses they will receive.
“At this time, we have not received a reliable allocation number for reasons such as the proposed vaccines have not received emergency use authorization, hence safety and efficacy for different populations have not been identified, “Pennsylvania officials said in a statement.
Sara Cook contributed to this report.
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