Hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses go unordered by states amid outbreaks, spurring calls for ...

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

Health

Hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses go unordered by states amid outbreaks, spurring calls for new approach

States cite a variety of reasons for the delays, but experts say nothing should be left on the shelves as infections climb

By Isaac Stanley-Becker
April 9, 2021 at 6:22 p.m. EDT

States have delayed ordering hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses available to them even as coronavirus outbreaks escalate — a sign the nation is moving past its supply pinch and now faces more acute challenges related to demand, staffing and inoculation of hard-to-reach populations. ... The question that defined the early weeks of the vaccine rollout was why states were taking so long to administer the doses they got from the federal government. Four months into the effort, what’s most mystifying is the number of states waiting to order all the doses they’ve been allotted, based on their adult populations and the supplies available that week.

When Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) last week asked White House officials if they would consider sending more vaccine doses to her state during a deadly surge, the state had not ordered 360,000 doses then available, puzzling federal officials who instead advised her to work with experts to make sure Michigan’s supply was being deployed effectively.

But Michigan wasn’t the only state leaving doses on warehouse shelves. At one point last week, 13 states had more than 100,000 doses apiece available and not ordered, according to a federal official familiar with the figures who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. Indiana had only pulled down 90 percent of doses available to the state, leaving 306,000 on the shelves. Texas had ordered 95 percent of its share, leaving 673,000 doses temporarily untouched.

The delays have gained notice inside the federal government, where officials have discussed whether performance metrics, including how quickly states are ordering and using their vaccine doses, and getting them to vulnerable groups, should be part of allocation decisions, according to three people familiar with the issue. Any new approach, however, would need sign-off from the White House, which has been at pains to avoid the appearance of penalizing some states while boosting others, including by directing additional doses to virus hot spots.

{snip}

Jacqueline Dupree, Dan Keating and Lena H. Sun contributed to this report.

Isaac Stanley-Becker
Isaac Stanley-Becker is a national political reporter. Follow https://twitter.com/isaacstanbecker

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/04/09/vaccine-distribution-delays/

[dutch777]

1. Many are avoiding the obvious that to get to herd immunity, vaccines need to be MANDATORY

Of course the hew and cry of "freedom" and lost rights and this and that will be inevitable. But clinically, unless we want to keep feeding agar to the societal petri dish of Covid and see if it can't eventually mutate into something easier to catch and much deadlier to a broader population, and maybe even the already vaccinated, we have to get virtually everyone vaccinated. The medical folks have downplayed the mutation risk issue for the whole time and it was THE risk the whole time of not having the capacity to test and trace in vast numbers.

And the notion that booster shots or yearly revaccination simliar to the flu program is also going under the radar. And of yo are Dr. Fauci and people can't grasp masks and social distancing I can understand not wanting to overload folks with even more grim reality but it is the likely reality.

[Lars39]

3. There's criteria that has to meet the FDAs standards iirc,

and it won't happen probably until a certain amount of people have gotten their second shot and then a month has passed. Surely to goodness the vaccines will be fast tracked. I'm tired of wondering if all the people on my medical team has been vaccinated.

[Siwsan]

2. This might start turning into a real Darwin event

Hopefully some of these anti-vaxxers are people who had it but were asymptomatic. At least that should give them a LITTLE protection, although I don't know if that would be true about the variants.

[mjvpi]

4. I get your point, but the United States maintained it's position as epicenter of the world......

........for the whole of the pandemic. We won the Darwin Award for the first year. Yes, it is going to get worse despite the resources and the scientific knowledge that we posses.