Editor's note: This story was originally published by Colorado Newsline and was supplemented by a statement issued Tuesday evening by Gov. Jared Polis' office. Read the original story here.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Tuesday directed state officials to expand who is getting vaccinated for COVID-19, and announced that all available doses will be distributed to states instead of holding back a reserve of follow-up doses.
Under the policy changes outlined by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, states should begin vaccinating anyone over age 65 and those under 65 who have underlying health conditions that put them at increasing risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms.
States also are urged to expand the sites being used for vaccinations, and will see their allocation of doses change. The number of vaccine doses sent to states each week will no longer be based on population, but rather on the pace of vaccine administration and the number of residents 65 and older.
The shift in federal policy guidance comes amid frustrations over the slow rollout of vaccinations as case counts and deaths from COVID-19 hit new highs. Instead of the 20 million doses that Trump administration officials had estimated could be administered by the end of 2020, that tally was just over 3 million.
State officials also have expressed exasperation at changing figures on the amount of vaccines they will receive each week.
In a Tuesday evening statement, Gov. Jared Polis said Colorado will not be making any changes to its vaccine program until it can get concrete details on supply quantities and timelines for receiving supply. The administration is planning how to scale up and expand eligibility in anticipation for receiving more vaccines, according to the statement.
“I am very excited with the announcement that states will be receiving more vaccines in the near term. Here in Colorado, we have a broad current eligible population of over 562,000 people over 70 years of age and based on data-driven goals of saving lives and ending the pandemic, protecting this vulnerable population will have the biggest impact. Our broad focus on vaccinating those over 70 has been one of the reasons that Colorado is one of the top states for the vaccine to be successfully administered,” Polis stated.
[ Related: State info on how Coloradans 70 and older can contact vaccine providers ]
The state hopes to announce by next week updated vaccination plans and Polis remains hopeful the quantity of vaccines in the state will allow for expansion of the age criteria within a few weeks, according to the statement.
A group of Democratic governors — including those from Michigan, Kansas, Minnesota and Wisconsin — last week called on federal officials to accelerate distribution of the available vaccines, so that the second dose of the two-shot regimen isn’t held back. President-elect Joe Biden had pledged to make that change as soon as he takes office next week.
Azar said Tuesday that the decision to release all available doses was made due to increased confidence that pharmaceutical manufacturers will be able to produce enough doses to keep up with demand.
Noting the lack of response to the governors’ request for more doses, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wrote to Azar on Monday, seeking permission to buy more doses directly from Pfizer, one of two companies with COVID-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use. HHS officials did not respond to questions about her letter.
It’s not clear whether states have been expressly prohibited from seeking to purchase vaccine doses, but the federal government has been the sole purchaser and distributor in the U.S., through a Trump administration task force dubbed Operation Warp Speed.
That effort has distributed more than 25 million doses to states, according to HHS officials and tracking data compiled by Bloomberg News. Of that figure, just 9 million vaccine doses have been administered.
Asked about that gap and why some states have done better than others at getting doses administered, Azar said there has been “variable performance” across states. Some focused too much on vaccinating all of their health care workers and long-term care facilities residents — the first priority group for vaccines — before broadening eligibility.
Azar also blamed data issues for the gap in doses sent versus injected, saying some states have had issues with getting their information sent through the federal system. For vaccination programs, states typically have 30 days to report their data, but are instructed to report COVID-19 vaccine data within just 72 hours.
Instead of a centralized national vaccine plan, the Trump administration has left it up to states to determine which populations will be prioritized for vaccines and when to start vaccinating the next group of residents. That’s resulted in a range of approaches to getting vaccines into residents’ arms.
Colorado recently started administering vaccines to people in phase 1B of its plan, which was expanded to encompass people 70 and older, moderate-risk health care workers, first responders, front-line workers and government officials, Colorado Newsline has reported.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis already had expanded eligibility to those 65 and older, though demand for shots has far outstripped the supply, according to the Florida Phoenix.
Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a network of news outlets supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: [email protected]. Follow Colorado Newsline on Facebook and Twitter.
