Topline
A bipartisan group of governors warned Monday that President Joe Biden’s program giving vaccines directly to pharmacies and health clinics could create inefficiencies and redundancies without better coordination with state governments—the latest sign the U.S. is struggling to vaccinate all Americans.
Key Facts
In a letter, the National Governors Association asked Biden for more input on the program because states are also allocating doses to those same pharmacies and clinics and want to avoid duplication.
More coordination is necessary, the letter says, because states don’t get to pick which pharmacies and clinics get doses, and states could provide insight into local needs and other efforts in the same geographic area.
The governors say they want access to “performance data” on these pharmacies and clinics because some “are better suited for the task than others.”
On a national level, the governors want published CDC data to start distinguishing between state and federal vaccination efforts, arguing the public needs more transparency and states need “visibility into the federal vaccination efforts at the facility level happening in our borders.”
The letter, which wasn’t combative in tone, was signed by members of both parties, including Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Huchinson.
A White House spokesperson told Forbes the Biden administration looks “forward to continuing to be a strong, receptive federal partner as we work with the relevant stakeholders to improve our data and reporting.”
Crucial Quote
“If the federal government distributes independently of the states to these same entities without state coordination and consultation, redundancy and inefficiency may very well follow,” the letter says.
Key Background
Under the Trump administration, states were largely left on their own to distribute the vaccine themselves, which in part contributed to early delays and bottlenecks. But the Biden administration is taking a more active role in the vaccine rollout and states are learning how to better address logistical issues as they expand the pool of eligible recipients. At the end of January, states had only administered half of the total vaccines they got from the federal government. Now, according to CDC data, states have administered 75%. Still, public experts worry Biden’s goal of reaching 1.5 million doses administered per day may not be enough to combat new variants of the virus. Last week, the U.S. averaged 1.66 million doses per day, according to the Washington Post.
What To Watch For
In addition to giving doses directly to pharmacies and clinics, the White House is setting up federally-supported vaccination sites and last week announced it has secured enough supply to vaccinate every American adult by July.
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Governors Say Biden Effort To Give Vaccines Directly To Pharmacies May Run Into Problems Without State Input - Forbes
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