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The chief scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed admitted Monday that there had been a “delay” in the administration of the coronavirus vaccines, but defended the federal government’s handling of their distribution.
Moncef Slaoui first said on CNN’s “New Day” that “nothing has gone wrong” in the vaccination process.
“What we committed to was to have 20 million doses of vaccine available for the American people to be vaccinated,” he added.
“We agree that there is a lag” in vaccinations, said White House vaccine chief Moncef Slaoui. “I would have liked to have vaccinated 20 million, obviously. We have been working day and night to have these vaccines available and we will continue to work day and night to get them vaccinated.” pic.twitter.com/8z4lMnPymv
– New day (@NewDay) January 4, 2021
CNN’s Alisyn Camerota then noted that Trump administration officials, and Slaoui himself, had specifically screened 20 million Americans vaccinated at this point. Slaoui cited the doses sent to the States while conceding “that they are lower than what we had hoped”.
“We agree that there is a lag,” Slaoui said. “We will work with the states. We need specific requests for help. … I would have liked to have vaccinated 20 million, obviously. We have been working day and night to have vaccines available and we will continue to work day and night to get them vaccinated. “
When Camerota again noted Slaoui’s previous screening, he insisted that Operation Warp Speed had “hoped” to have vaccinated so many Americans by this point, pushing back its label as “washing.” [his] hands of it.
The exchange intensified as Slaoui accused CNN of mocking the idea that a vaccine was ready by the end of 2020. Camerota finally asked him what the federal government’s plan was to improve the vaccination figures.
“Work with the states,” replied Slaoui. “We can’t decide where to help them. So far we’ve made the strategic decision to work across states … no state health department has told us this is the wrong approach.
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