The letter came down to the most explicit call made by governors for Biden’s government to publicly explain how it is carrying out its distribution process.
The letter nevertheless illustrates the continuing confusion over the deployment effort, which began under Biden’s predecessor but remains under his supervision, according to the governors.
A person familiar with the situation, and asked not to be identified to speak openly, said governors want the government to be more clear with the American public that the restrictions on receiving the vaccine due to a national shortage of doses and not to the failures of state and local officials, who are largely to blame.
Governors also want to give more accurate information from the Biden government about where the vaccine doses are headed, the person said after ending up in situations where there are vaccinations without vaccination. The countries also do not always know every pharmacy or relief facility that receives direct vaccines from the federal government, which further complicates the distribution plans, the person familiar with the situation said.
Some elements of the letter appear on telephone calls between governors and the White House, but not to the extent that the letter is set out. In this case, governors wanted to make sure the extent of their concerns reached the president.
Cuomo, who is chairman of the National Governors Association and met with Biden in the White House on Friday to discuss vaccinations and stimulus efforts, said it was difficult to know exactly where the federal government was sending the doses that spread the vaccines directly.
“Some pharmacies are already getting a distribution,” he said. “If the federal government sends to CVS, I will not send it to CVS.”
A White House spokesman said they were discussing data and discussing issues with the country’s governors.
“Our strong partnership with states over the past few weeks is helping us vaccinate more people, and we look forward to continuing to be a strong, receptive federal partner as we work with stakeholders to ensure our data and reporting. to improve, “the spokesman said. . “Our goal is to get in the arms of Americans as equitably and efficiently as possible, and to address these issues is critical to doing so.”
An administration official added that federal agencies, including the CDC, are working to improve the Tiberius system so that states have more insight into what is happening in their state across the various distribution channels. The official said new upgrades would allow the state to see the vaccine supply for retail pharmacies, identify where “uncalculated doses” exist and provide an overview of orders and shipments for all pharmacies and federal entities, along with other improvements.
The letter was also signed by the leaders of Arkansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Alabama, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Michigan.
In it, the governors said that inconsistencies with the CDC’s public reporting on vaccine statistics were causing their citizens ‘unnecessary confusion’. Government officials have complained that the number of vaccinations granted by the federal government differs in public from what was on the ground in their countries. Both numbers differ from the actual vaccines that healthcare providers administered in the weapon.
The group’s governors have said that issues with public reporting on the distribution of vaccines continue “since last year”, when the Trump administration was still in place.
“Because of the anxiety caused by the supply and demand of the vaccine, it is imperative that the American people fully understand the process,” the governors wrote.
They also expressed concern that the multiple federal vaccination programs – including the pharmacies – were “out of our control” and confusing to the public.
“If the federal government distributes independently of the states to the same entities without coordination and consultation by the state, redundancy and inefficiency could very well follow,” the governors wrote.
They singled out federal shipments of vaccines to nursing homes and long-term care facilities, retail pharmacies and federally-qualified health centers as examples of areas where the effort caused duplication of effort, and wrote that they were better able to know which facilities were equipped to distribute shots. .
Biden’s administration announced earlier this month that it had begun sending 1 million doses of vaccine a week to retail pharmacies, which it said were selected “on the basis of their ability to reach some of the most at-risk populations. Covid-19 diseases, including socially vulnerable communities. ‘
Some confusion over the distribution of vaccines stems from the Trump administration’s decision to send vaccines largely to states and allow them to distribute the doses. Instead of rediscovering what the former government had instituted, Biden’s team laid additional distribution channels on top of the allocation of state vaccines, which made the process more complicated in some ways.
Governors also face a problem that is partly of their own nature. Many governors preferred to make vaccine doses available to the elderly, even though it was clear that the supply would be extremely limited.
The Trump administration has also urged states to be eligible for vaccine to be able to shoot faster in the arms. Now, the broad categories of fitness are expanding frustration as elderly Americans or those with pre-existing conditions find out they are eligible for a vaccine but none are available.
CNN’s Gregory Wallace contributed to this report.