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“We insist that our districts get the vaccine from the freezer to the Oklahomans, preferably within seven days,” said Keith Reed, assistant commissioner for the Oklahoma Department of Health. “And this vaccine is really fair right now.”
All states except West Virginia have joined a federal nursing home vaccination program that the Trump administration has established to protect a population particularly susceptible to the coronavirus. Some states have complained about the pace of this program, even as the retail pharmacy giants providing the vaccines – CVS and Walgreens – said on Monday that they had met their goal of completing the first round of nursing home vaccinations. .
States revising their allocations have said they are correcting a supply mismatch, now that many states have allowed vaccinations for people 65 and older and other high-risk groups. Their new strategy also comes as the Biden administration said it struggles to unravel conflicting information about the country’s vaccine supply, as states warn they are running out of doses as data show that many are still sitting on the shelves.
Utah is stopping new shipments for long-term care facilities this week and instead redistributing 8,775 injections to local health departments and other providers, Department of Health spokesman Tom Hudachko said. .
“We’re not looking at this because CVS or Walgreens haven’t fulfilled their obligation,” Hudachko said. “In fact, the exact opposite: They did a fantastic job in Utah going through their first clinics. It is clear to us that the federal allocation was too high.
Minnesota is withdrawing 30,000 doses from the long-term care program that will instead go to immunizing newly eligible teachers and child care providers, a state spokesperson said. Maine has transferred approximately 3,400 doses of CVS and Walgreens to hospitals and independent pharmacies. Michigan is sending 120,000 injections to other providers that were originally intended for long-term care facilities, according to Lynn Sutfin, spokesperson for the Department of Health.
States have stressed that the revised allowance – which two state officials say must be approved by the federal government – will not hamper the ability of pharmacies to immunize nursing homes and assisted living communities. Spokesmen for CVS and Walgreens have confirmed that in some cases pharmacies have received more vaccines than needed and are working with states to determine the best way to recover or postpone those doses.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also helping states with reassignment, a spokesperson said.
“Now that pharmacies have made substantial progress in efforts to bring vaccination directly to more than 70,000 long-term care facilities across the country – and we have a better idea of how much supply is needed to complete. vaccinating these medically fragile residents and caring front-line staff – we are working with pharmaceutical and jurisdictional partners to reduce or temporarily suspend these allowances, if necessary, ”the agency spokesperson said.
LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit aging service providers, has not heard of any diverted reallocated doses from residents or staff already scheduled to receive vaccines. However, spokeswoman Lisa Sanders said the group will monitor how states change their plans.
“Our main concern is that the elderly and the people who care for them are given priority because they haven’t been through this whole pandemic,” Sanders said. “If the reassignment means they won’t be given priority, that would be concerning.”
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