Governors of over 14 different states raised concerns that their states have only gotten a fraction of the promised number of BioNTech-Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as shots began to be distributed across the United States early this week.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer expressed frustration on Friday that she “still cannot get a straight answer out of the Trump administration about why Michigan, like many other states, is receiving a fraction of the vaccines that we were slated to receive.”
“Here’s what I would ask if I could get them on the phone: Where are those doses? What is holding them up? When can we expect them?” Whitmer said. “I’m angry because this virus is raging on in this country. And there is either corruption or ineptitude that is keeping us from saving lives and protecting people.”
Healthcare workers already started receiving vaccine shots while nursing home residents will be receiving them by the end of next week.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said the delays in Pfizer vaccine distributions are “disruptive and frustrating.”
He tweeted, “We need accurate, predictable numbers to plan and ensure on-the-ground success.”
.@CDCgov has informed us that WA’s vaccine allocation will be cut by 40 percent next week — and that all states are seeing similar cuts.
This is disruptive and frustrating. We need accurate, predictable numbers to plan and ensure on-the-ground success.
No explanation was given.
— Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) December 17, 2020
Gov. Inslee, however, explained that U.S. Army General Gustave Perna told him that “prior allocations were inadvertently based on vaccine doses produced,” but not all doses made it through quality control.
Gen. Gus Perna, whose candor I appreciated, explained that prior allocations were inadvertently based on vaccine doses produced — not all of which have yet completed quality control and are releasable.
That discrepancy was the source of the change in allocations.— Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) December 19, 2020
While President Donald Trump is yet to give his word on the issue, Perna, the military leader and Chief Operating Officer of Operation Warp Speed (OWS), apologized for the delays.
“I’m the one who approved forecast sheets. I’m the one who approved allocations,” he said. “There is no problem with the process. There is no problem with the Pfizer vaccine. There is no problem with the Moderna vaccine.”
Running a vaccine supply chain is a complex system that requires stringent coordination and clear communication across stakeholders.
“It was a planning error, and I am responsible,” Perna said. “Where I failed, I failed, nobody else failed, was to have a clear understanding of that cadence.”
GUS PERNA, the general running logistics for Operation Warp Speed, takes sole responsibility for a big problem with Pfizer vaccine rollout: states report they’re getting less than they were promised.
“It was my fault,” Perna says. “It was a planning error, and I am responsible.” pic.twitter.com/LbMpT9l23B
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) December 19, 2020
U.S. officials earlier witnessed unexpected hitches during the first week of the BioNTech-Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine distribution. These include some vaccines being stored at extremely cold temperatures.
Perna earlier in the week said authorities launched a probe into whether storing the vaccines at very cold temperatures affect efficacy and safety.
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