“We urge our districts to move the freezer vaccine to Oklahomans, preferably within a seven-day period,” said Keith Reed, Oklahoma’s deputy commissioner of health. “And this vaccine is actually just sitting there.”
Every state except West Virginia has joined a federal vaccination program for nursing homes created by the Trump administration to ensure protection for a population particularly susceptible to the coronavirus. Some states have complained about the pace of the program, though the retail pharmacy giants that provide CVS and Walgreens reported Monday that they have reached their goal of completing the first round of vaccinations in nursing homes.
States that have revised their allocations have said they are correcting for a mismatch in supply, now that many states have cleared vaccinations for people aged 65 and older and other high-risk groups. Their new strategy also comes because the Biden government has said it is working to unravel conflicting information about the country’s vaccine supply, as states warn they are running out of doses, while data show many are still on the boards.
Utah stopped new shipments for long-term care facilities this week and instead redistributed 8,775 shots to local health departments and other providers, Department of Health spokesman Tom Hudachko said.
“We are not looking at it because of CVS or Walgreens not fulfilling their obligation,” Hudachko said. ‘On the contrary, just the opposite: they did a fantastic job in Utah getting their first clinics through. It is only clear to us that the federal allocation was too high. ”
Minnesota is withdrawing 30,000 doses from the long-term care program that should be vaccinated in the direction of vaccinating teachers and childminders who are just eligible, a state spokesman said. Maine transferred approximately 3,400 doses of CVS and Walgreens to hospitals and independent pharmacies. According to Lynn Sutfin, a spokeswoman for the health department, Michigan sends 120,000 shots to other providers that were originally intended for long-term care facilities.
States have stressed that the revision of the grants – which, according to two federal government officials, must sign off – will not hamper the pharmacies’ ability to vaccinate nursing homes and assisted communities. Spokesmen for CVS and Walgreens confirmed that in some cases the pharmacies had received more vaccine than they needed and that they were working with states to determine how the doses could best be recovered or delayed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also helping states with the reallocation, a spokesman said.
‘Now that pharmacies have made significant progress in efforts to bring vaccination directly to the more than 70,000 long-term care facilities nationwide – and we have a better understanding of how much stock is needed to get these medically fragile residents and frontline staff vaccinated. for them – we work with pharmacies and legal entities to withdraw the grants, or to suspend them temporarily, where appropriate, ”said the agency’s spokesperson.
LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit aging services providers, has not yet heard of redistributed doses of residents or staff already scheduled to receive vaccinations. However, spokeswoman Lisa Sanders said the group will monitor how states change their plans.
“We especially believe that older adults and the people who care for them are put first because they have not been through the whole pandemic yet,” Sanders said. “If redistribution means they are not going to be prioritized, that would be a cause for concern.”