The Biden-Harris administration likely won’t be able to stick to a COVID-19 vaccine rollout timeline set by the previous administration, according to Rochelle Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Back in December, former Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that the COVID-19 vaccine would be widely available to the general public at pharmacies by late February. But Dr. Walensky told Savannah Guthrie on NBC’s Today show that probably won’t be possible. Still, the new administration’s pandemic response team is hitting the ground running to deliver on the promise of 100 million doses in 100 days.
“We are going to, as part of our plan, put the vaccine in pharmacies,” Dr. Walensky said. “Will it be in every pharmacy in this country by that timeline? I don’t think so. I don’t think late February we’re going to have vaccine in every pharmacy in this country.” She continued, “We said 100 million doses in the first 100 days, and we’re going to stick to that plan. But I also want to be very cognizant of the fact that after 100 days, there are still a lot of Americans who need the vaccine. So we have our pedal to the metal to make sure that we can get as much vaccine out there.”
The new CDC director also talked about how the new administration’s vaccine rollout plan will navigate the logistical challenges that are hindering vaccination in the U.S. For instance, the plan may allow more people to be eligible for vaccination in places where COVID-19 vaccine doses are going unused, Dr. Walensky said.
The Biden-Harris administration is also considering making the vaccine available in a different types of locations in addition to pharmacies—stadiums, federally qualified health care centers, gymnasiums, mobile units—to ensure far-reaching and equity-based vaccine distribution in the U.S., Dr. Walensky explained. And Biden is prepared to use the Defense Production Act to direct resources toward supply chain shortfalls affecting vaccine production, distribution, or administration.
The new administration is stepping into office, Dr. Walensky noted, as the country marks one year since the first case of COVID-19 in the U.S.—and a death toll of more than 400,000 people that is on pace to reach 500,000 by the end of February. “We recognize this is the most immediate emergency to get this country back to health,” she said.
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