“They’re going to use the learning curve,” said Vijay Samant, a former Merck CEO who oversaw the production of three successful vaccines during his tenure. Samant said vaccine manufacturers had months to work out the stock’s bottlenecks, and that production was expected to accelerate in the coming months – a blessing for Biden’s government.
“They can get a lot of credit because suddenly vaccine doses are going to be available and it’s, ‘Oh, well, we did it,'” Samant said. “Let me tell you, this is how it works. They’re on the right side of the curve. ‘
The Connecticut government’s Democrat Ned Lamont sounded equally optimistic on Thursday, predicting that vaccine supplies would increase rapidly in February and March. The governor had a call with Pfizer, during which the company “repeated its plan to significantly increase production in February,” said Max Reiss, the governor’s spokesman. Much of the march is taking place even before the Biden government moves under the Defense Production Act.
In an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America”, Biden’s chief medical adviser expressed confidence in the president’s once seemingly far-reaching goal of vaccinating 100 million people in his first 100 days.
“I feel pretty confident that it’s not just going to be that, but maybe even better,” Fauci said, adding that he was looking at the contractual agreements that were made. “The amount that comes in, we will be able to achieve the goal.”
Yet questions remain about where the U.S. vaccine supply is currently. The new government has outlined strong federal plans to launch large vaccination sites and deploy mobile units in hard-hit communities. At the same time, some states are canceling appointments at existing vaccination sites, citing a lack of vaccine supplies.
The Biden team said it was flying slightly blind when it came to vaccine provision and how it was distributed across the country. A source close to the transition told CNN that the Biden team was denied access to critical resources needed to accurately measure supply and prepare to take over implementation before Biden takes office.
“The cooperation or lack of funds for cooperation from the Trump administration has been a hindrance,” White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters. “So we do not have the visibility we would hope for in the offer and allocations.”
To be sure, there is not nearly enough vaccine available yet – in the US or worldwide – and the US has stumbled to get shots in the arms quickly. But it looks like the Biden government is also trying to manage expectations, by enlarging the Trump administration while determining what concrete steps it can take to improve vaccine production and distribution.
The Biden administration has not clearly stated what it is doing to improve the supply of vaccines immediately, except for task agencies looking for opportunities to use the Defense Production Act.
Biden “remains absolutely committed to enacting the Defense Production Act in order to obtain the supplies and materials necessary to deliver the vaccine to Americans across the country, and remains committed to its goal of firing 100 million shots into the arms of Americans. to get 100 days, ”Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, said Thursday.
The White House did not address how they would communicate or cooperate with states, but in a statement to CNN spokesman Kevin Munoz, he reiterated that they would “listen to the unique needs of states and the resources and guidance of the federal government would adapt to ensure that we get vaccinations in the arms of Americans as quickly and safely as possible. ‘
White House officials said they had asked the Department of Health and Human Services to look for all possible sources of a type of syringe that could help extract more doses of Pfizer vaccine from each vial. On Thursday, Biden said he would sign an executive order to use the Defense Production Act to order federal agencies and private industries to “make everything necessary to accelerate the protection, testing and vaccination and care of our people.” . ‘
A former administration official told CNN that the Trump administration has already implemented the Defense Production Act to help each of the six vaccine manufacturers, as well as needle and syringe contracts.
“We will pay close attention to all the components of the supply chain to ensure that production keeps pace with what we need,” White House supply coordinator Tim Manning told reporters. “The Defense Production Act is a powerful tool – a powerful set of tools – and there are many ways we can use it to ensure there are adequate and growing vaccinations.”
Samant, the vaccine expert, said the administration would be better off focusing on the availability of raw materials such as lipids instead of specialized syringes.
“It’s like the most ridiculous thing to chase,” Samant said of the yield from spray production, adding that such a move could improve vaccine stocks by 5% at best.
For the Biden team, it is critical to understand how much stock is available and how much will be realistically available in the coming months. States have said they need clear and consistent guidance on the provision of vaccines so they can continue to streamline their vaccination programs.
“We will work to deliver projections on the offer. We keep hearing from governors and local leaders that they just do not know what the offer is going to be and cannot plan. We will absolutely embrace our arms over the next few days. Make sure that we communicate with states and localities so that they can prepare effectively, “Zients added.
According to one health official involved in the distribution of vaccines, hospitals that received the Moderna vaccine complained that they were completely in the dark when they received it and how much they received, and in some cases they were sent scurrying when they were surprised. received shipments. . Moderna declined to comment.
All these problems now end up in the lap of the new administration.
Some government officials have said they are already worried about what the government’s plan will be to allocate vaccines and communicate with states.
Under the previous government at the time, Vice President Mike Pence and members of the Covid Task Force spoke regularly with the country’s governors during most of the pandemic. While some governors found the calls largely useless, they could rely on the briefings as an opportunity to hear from high-ranking medical experts and ask questions to the administration.
A day after Biden took office, government officials told CNN there was still a lot of confusion about how states would work and communicate with the Biden government as the pandemic continued to escalate and vaccine distribution lagged behind.
According to one Republican government official, the National Governors Association contacted some of its governors about cooperating with the Biden administration on Covid. However, not all governors are members of the organization, and it remains unclear how the government plans to work with those outside the association.
A Democratic civil servant said they also had no regular communication with the new government.
Dr Bechara Choucair, the vaccination coordinator at the White House, was in contact with some governors but did not specify how the government would approach the allocation of vaccines.
Biden said Thursday that each state will get a link with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
But in a newsletter Thursday, Psaki could not give further details on how the Biden government will improve communication with states.
The new Covid team, she said, “will contact governors, Democrats and Republicans, mayors, local elected officials, to gain a better understanding of what is happening on the ground.”