Amid reports that the outgoing government of former President Donald Trump has left no national vaccination plan for incoming President Joe Biden, cities in New York, Mississippi and South Carolina have canceled the scheduled vaccination appointments due to a lack of available doses.
“There is no plan, or was there no plan, by the Trump administration in terms of distribution, how to actually talk to and educate the public about these vaccines [people] about why they are so important to their health, “Dr. Michael Osterholm, an expert in infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota, who is a member of Biden’s coronavirus advisory board, told WBUR.
“What we inherit from the Trump administration is so much worse than we could have imagined,” Jeff Zients, Biden’s COVID-19 coordinator, told reporters Wednesday night. “We do not have the visibility we would hope for in the offer and allocations.”
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On Thursday, Biden unveiled his national coronavirus strategy, which includes his goal of administering 100 million vaccination shots during his first hundred days in office – in other words, by April 30th.
But while Biden on Thursday signed an executive order calling for the Defense Production Act to boost vaccine production and another order urging countries to create more vaccination centers in public places such as stadiums, convention centers and pharmacies, health experts say a shortage of available doses that can take months to correct and also an incorrect allocation of the doses currently available.
According to Centico for Disease Control and Prevention, about 38 million doses were distributed, but only about half were administered, leaving a gap of about 19 million unused doses.
During Thursday’s information session of the COVID task group of the White House, dr. Anthony Fauci, coronavirus expert and advisory board, said: “This is something we really need to investigate,” adding: “The thing that is most disturbing is vaccine lying around.”
Under the Trump administration, according to the Politico, states have not been informed by the federal government about how many doses they can expect and when not.
Under the uncertainty, cities in states across the country are canceling vaccinations due to lack of doses.
Baptist Health South Florida has had to cancel some of its 12,000 vaccination appointments, according to NBC News, and officials in San Francisco, New York and New Jersey have also said they are few.
Across the state of New York, 26,300 such appointments have been canceled, according to Bloomberg News and WGRZ.
On January 15, the Beaufort Memorial Hospital in Beaufort, South Carolina canceled 6,000 scheduled appointments, citing a lack of available doses. Although the hospital ordered more than 2,000 vaccines for the beginning of the month, only 450 vaccines were given to them.
On January 14, the Mississippi Department of Health (MSDH) said it was unable to vaccinate all eligible individuals until receiving a new dose in mid-February.
The announcement from the MSDH comes a day after the state’s Republican governor, Tate Reeves, told residents to report for vaccinations amid an increase in new COVID-19 cases. His instructions overwhelm the state’s website and hotline for vaccination.
“The Mississippi Department of Health hopes to receive a large amount of vaccine by mid-February that will help put additional shots into people’s arms,” the MSDH statement said. “We understand the frustration of the sudden change of plans.”
Newsweek contacted the White House for comment.