Boxes containing the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are being prepared for transport to the Pfizer Global Supply Kalamazoo plant on December 13, 2020, in Portage, Michigan.
Morry Gash | Getty Images
All shipments of Covid-19 vaccine doses delayed by the historic winter storm last week are expected to be delivered by the middle of the week, White House senior adviser Andy Slavitt told the Covid-19 response Monday. .
Slavitt said Friday that the delivery of about 6 million doses, representing about three days’ consignment, was delayed by the storm.
“I reported on Friday that we would catch up by the end of this week,” Slavitt said at the White House Covid-19 press briefing on Monday. “We now anticipate that all overdue doses will be delivered by the middle of the week.”
He added that the federal government on Monday plans to deliver about 7 million doses of vaccine, a combination of shots left behind last week and some that would go out this week. He said the government’s ability to quickly catch up with the storm was due to members of the military and employees of McKesson, who had contracted the government to help manage the distribution and logistics in the deployment of vaccines.
“Seventy McKesson employees worked shifts Saturday night, Sunday at 1 a.m. to prepare shipments to meet a 11 a.m. deadline,” he said, adding that UPS employees were also flexible in accommodating overdue deliveries.
Slavitt added that although the White House expected to catch up on the delivery of doses quickly, it would take some time for the vaccinations to catch up.
“We encourage vaccination sites to follow the same guidance of those who work longer to catch up on deliveries by planning more appointments to vaccinate the anxious public as quickly as possible,” he said. Slavitt added that vaccination sites in some parts of the country that had been hit particularly hard by the storm were still closed.
The rate of vaccinations in Texas, plagued by the storm that left millions of people without electricity in the state, has suffered badly. Slavitt said the seven-day average of daily doses administered had dropped by 31% in the past week.