Louisiana expects ‘relatively flat’ coronavirus vaccines; here’s how it’s ‘problems’ Coronavirus

The Biden administration told Louisiana officials that sending the coronavirus vaccine for at least a month would not increase much, which is the latest challenge in the state’s effort to increase vaccinations.

The revelation that shipments will not increase – which has long been the promise of federal officials to states – means Louisiana is unlikely to be able to hold mass vaccinations any time soon, Gov. John Bel Edwards told a news conference on Friday. .

There are expected to be about 58,000 doses per week flat this week and next vaccines to the state, and for most of February it will probably be only 5 to 10 percent. Louisiana has received roughly flat deliveries of vaccine doses over the past month, Edwards said amid issues affecting U.S. distribution.

“Everyone is working under the assumption that manufacturing production will increase over time and the allocation will also increase,” Edwards said. ‘Looking back at representations made in November and December, we always believed that the allocation would increase. This is going to happen sometime. It’s just not happening yet. This presents some problems. ‘

Edwards said the rate of deliveries does not affect patients’ ability to get second doses needed for full protection.

The Trump administration has said for months that vaccine production will increase rapidly once it is approved. And shortly before Biden took office, top officials of the Trump administration in health announced that they would no longer block the second doses, a change in policy that suggested more doses would soon go to states be.

But even as states expect an increase in supply, they soon learned that the federal government had already used its supplies.

President Joe Biden has vowed a stronger response to the coronavirus pandemic, including a intensified vaccination effort. He set a target of 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days in office, ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to set up vaccination centers and let agencies use the Defense Production Act, which allows the government to seize supplies from private industry to obtain times of need.

But building up the vaccine supply will still take time, and the flat shipments will slow down Louisiana’s move by the priority groups that determine who is eligible for a vaccine. Without a large increase in doses, it will also limit the need to use planned vaccination sites to bring doses to larger sections of the public and bring the state closer to herd immunity.

It is not clear how big it has been a setback for the state’s plans. Edwards has been reluctant to disclose timelines for when different groups have access to the vaccine, citing uncertainty surrounding the offer.

About 272,000 people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Louisiana, according to the latest state data. This represents less than a third of the approximately 900,000 people currently eligible to receive the vaccine, Dr. Joe Kanter, state health officer for the Louisiana Department of Health, said although it is not known how many of the people want the vaccine.

He said the state is coordinating with suppliers to determine when demand starts to fall, and then the state will expand the priority group to the next level, which includes a list of essential workers. It is not clear which trigger the state intends to use, although Edwards has suggested that the state reduce the admission to the extension of the appointment to 80%. Currently, people aged 70 and older and many health workers, as well as people living in long-term care facilities such as old age homes, are eligible.

Kanter also said the announcement by the Trump administration was part of the reason why Ochsner Health, Louisiana’s largest health care institution, overestimated the offer he believed would enter the state.

Ochsner has planned more than 100,000 vaccine appointments for the coming weeks, but said last week that he would have to postpone thousands of them after the system received no vaccine in normal shipping. The state later diverted a relatively small amount of doses to the system to fill the gap. Ochsner officials said last week that they and the state are under the impression that more doses would come from the feds than actually arrived.

Edwards said governors across the U.S. ‘all ask the same. We want more vaccination as soon as we can get it. ”

He also said that state leaders want more lead time between deliveries. Currently, the federal states are giving an estimate of how many doses they will receive on Tuesday next week. On Thursday, the federal government finalizes the number, and the state must place its orders for shipments to suppliers.

Louisiana began the vaccination effort slowly in December, when the state only allowed vaccination for prominent health care workers and people living and working in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, through a federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens.

Since then, the state has adopted the pass. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that Louisiana is 11th among the states and the District of Columbia in the number of doses administered per capita.

The delays in getting more vaccinations are not unique to Louisiana. In Alabama, officials said they received about half as many vaccine doses as they expected based on federal plans announced last year. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has not recently postponed the shooting for the elderly after learning the vaccination from the state.

Edwards said his administration is reviewing the executive steps taken by the Biden government, which includes a waiver of the state’s cost share for COVID expenses that could save Louisiana millions.

“It was a little slower, of course, than we would have liked,” Edwards said of the vaccines.

“We are anxiously awaiting increasing awards.”

Associated Press contributed to this story.