By Laura Olson, Michigan Advance
The Trump administration on Tuesday directed state officials to expand who is getting vaccinated for COVID-19, and announced that all available doses will be distributed to states instead of holding back a reserve of follow-up doses.
Under the policy changes outlined by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, states should begin vaccinating anyone over age 65 and those under 65 who have underlying health conditions that put them at increasing risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms.
States also are urged to expand the sites being used for vaccinations, and will see their allocation of doses change. The number of vaccine doses sent to states each week will no longer be based on population, but rather on the pace of vaccine administration and the number of residents 65 and older.
“Every vaccine dose that is sitting in a warehouse rather than going into an arm could mean one more life lost or one more hospital bed occupied,” Azar told reporters.
The shift in federal policy guidance comes amid frustrations over the slow rollout of vaccinations as case counts and deaths from COVID-19 hit new highs. Instead of the 20 million doses that Trump administration officials had estimated could be administered by the end of 2020, that tally was just over 3 million.
State officials also have expressed exasperation at changing figures on the amount of vaccines they will receive each week.
A group of Democratic governors — including those from Michigan, Kansas, Minnesota and Wisconsin — last week called on federal officials to accelerate distribution of the available vaccines, so that the second dose of the two-shot regimen isn’t held back. President-elect Joe Biden had pledged to make that change as soon as he takes office next week.
“Michigan and states across the country remain ready to get more shots in arms, which is why the Trump Administration’s decision to grant our request and release millions of doses of the vaccine is so crucial,” said Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “It will take all of us – the federal government, state and local leaders, health departments, and everyday Americans – to ensure everyone can get the safe and effective vaccine. There is still more work to do, which is why yesterday, I sent a letter to the Trump Administration requesting permission to directly purchase up to 100,000 doses of the vaccine for the state of Michigan. I am eager to hear back from the federal government regarding my request, and will continue to work with them and leaders everywhere to end this pandemic and save lives.”
Last week, Whitmer joined other governors — Gavin Newsom of California, Laura Kelly of Kansas, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Tim Walz of Minnesota, Andrew Cuomo of New York, Tony Evers of Wisconsin, Jay Inslee of Washington and Kate Brown of Oregon in sending a letter to Azar requesting that the federal government distribute the millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses held back by the Trump administration. After the governors sent the letter, the incoming Biden administration announced that it will release all of the available vaccine doses that the Trump Administration is holding back.
On Monday, Michigan entered a new phase of vaccine distribution, and began offering vaccine to Michiganders age 65 and older; frontline essential workers including police officers, first responders, frontline state and federal workers and jail and prison staff; and pre K-12 educators, support staff and childcare providers.
Azar said Tuesday that the decision to release all available doses was made due to increased confidence that pharmaceutical manufacturers will be able to produce enough doses to keep up with demand.
Noting the lack of response to the governors’ request for more doses Whitmer wrote to Azar on Monday, seeking permission to buy more doses directly from Pfizer, one of two companies with COVID-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use. HHS officials did not respond to questions about her letter.
It’s not clear whether states have been expressly prohibited from seeking to purchase vaccine doses, but the federal government has been the sole purchaser and distributor in the U.S., through a Trump administration task force dubbed Operation Warp Speed.
That effort has distributed more than 25 million doses to states, according to HHS officials and tracking data compiled by Bloomberg News. Of that figure, just 9 million vaccine doses have been administered.
Asked about that gap and why some states have done better than others at getting doses administered, Azar said there has been “variable performance” across states. Some focused too much on vaccinating all of their health care workers and long-term care facilities residents — the first priority group for vaccines — before broadening eligibility.
Azar also blamed data issues for the gap in doses sent versus injected, saying some states have had issues with getting their information sent through the federal system. For vaccination programs, states typically have 30 days to report their data, but are instructed to report COVID-19 vaccine data within just 72 hours.
Instead of a centralized national vaccine plan, the Trump administration has left it up to states to determine which populations will be prioritized for vaccines and when to start vaccinating the next group of residents. That’s resulted in a range of approaches to getting vaccines into residents’ arms.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis already had expanded eligibility to those 65 and older, though demand for shots has far outstripped the supply, according to the Florida Phoenix.
Colorado recently started administering vaccines to people in phase 1B of its plan, which was expanded to encompass people 70 and older, moderate-risk health care workers, first responders, front-line workers and government officials, Colorado Newsline has reported.
Advance Editor Susan J. Demas contributed to this report.
Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a network of news outlets supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan Demas for questions: [email protected]. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and Twitter.
