Vaccine reserve was already exhausted when Trump administration vowed to release it

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post




When Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced this week that the federal government would begin releasing coronavirus vaccine doses held in reserve for second shots, no such reserve existed, according to state and federal officials briefed on distribution plans. The Trump administration had already begun shipping out what was available beginning at the end of December, taking second doses directly off the manufacturing line.

Now, health officials across the country who had anticipated their extremely limited vaccine supply as much as doubling beginning next week are confronting the reality that their allocations will not immediately increase, dashing hopes of dramatically expanding eligibility for millions of elderly people and those with high-risk medical conditions. Health officials in some cities and states were informed in recent days about the reality of the situation, while others are still in the dark.

Because both of the vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States are two-dose regimens, the Trump administration's initial policy was to hold back second doses to protect against the possibility of manufacturing disruptions. But that approach shifted in recent weeks, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. The result is that next week's allocations will remain flat. These officials were told that Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration's initiative to speed the development of vaccines and therapeutics, stopped stockpiling second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the end of last year, instead taking second doses directly off the manufacturing line. The last shots held in reserve of Moderna's supply, meanwhile, began shipping out over the weekend.

The shift, in both cases, had to do with increased confidence in the supply chain, so that Operation Warp Speed leaders were confident they could reliably anticipate the availability of doses for booster shots -- required three weeks later in the case of the Pfizer-BioNTech product and four weeks later under Moderna's protocol. But it also meant there was no stockpile of second doses waiting to be shipped, as Trump administration officials suggested this week. Azar, at a Tuesday briefing, said, "Because we now have a consistent pace of production, we can now ship all of the doses that had been held in physical reserve." He explained the decision as part of the "next phase" of the nation's vaccination campaign.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/15/trump-vaccine-reserve-used-up/

---

Azar lied and people died.

Full headline: Vaccine reserve was already exhausted when Trump administration vowed to release it, dashing hopes of expanded access

[UpInArms]

1. Did trump loot the reserve?

WTF?

[Pachamama]

3. Millions of Vaccine Vials don't just simply "vanish"

[mpcamb]

19. Jared immediately springs to mind.

[dchill]

22. Did MBS get his vaccine? I'll bet he did!

[Pachamama]

44. +10000

Completely Agree

[apnu]

27. was there ever a reserve or is this, yet another bungled thing Trump did.

Honestly, its 50/50 right now.

[Hotler]

38. Of couse he did with Jared. he's stealing money from his

old friend Rudy by stiffing him. I bet he steals the towels from the White House. $5.00 says he steals the TP on the way out.

[Pachamama]

2. Where did the vaccine vials go?

I predict that they have been sent somewhere, but not for US Citizens consumption.

For the profit of the Trumps

[h2ebits]

17. Perhaps the UAE?

Follow the money. . . .

[MyMission]

46. Sold to the highest bidder

Which could include rich Americans, rich foreigners, dictator run countries, black market.

Of course he stole/diverted the vaccine doses, through Jared, or any number of his cronies.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Sabotage to make money and create more problems for Biden Administration

Everything gets undermined, everything is the exact opposite of what is stated. More like Soviet Union every day.

[Cousin Dupree]

5. Because of these idiots, my guess is some people may not be able to get second dose on time

They are incapable of doing ANYTHING correctly.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

6. Once again, Trump administration's decisions cause deaths rather than prevent them.

Whether due to sheer ineptitude or by design....it's hard to tell anymore. It's happened so often.

[young_at_heart]

7. His "followers" don't care

He has plenty of blood on his hands but he's not a "Socialist"!

[NoRoadUntravelled]

8. The disconnect from reason is stunning. nt

They see themselves as doing something good.

[not fooled]

9. Lying, scheming, bumbling

to the end.

[iluvtennis]

10. There just is no low for this admin. Karma will not be kind to them. nt

[people]

11. Question about article

I understand that Azar lied when he said they would be sending out vaccine supply from the "reserves" when the reserves were already used up, but what I don't understand is why he lied. Are the manufacturers not able to manufacture enough vaccine to keep the supply up and he didn't want to say that or is it something else? Is it that Trump people actually had a reserve that disappeared or, if they didn't have one, the article doesn't say why they didn't -- whose fault was that or was it simply that the manufacturing process is slow?

[BumRushDaShow]

14. I think it was all of that

You have -

1.) People getting "covid fatigue" so there was this P.R. push to give people "hope"
2.) Republican talking points where they still believe this is all a "hoax" and "overblown", which is bad P.R. so to blunt it, you have this "over-promising" going on.
3.) Because of the "hoax" factor, the administration refused to expand the contract with Pfizer (who was not originally participating with "Operation Warp Speed" ) so the offer to buy more doses was refused (although I believe later this fall, they eventually did do that - but it was too late because they are supplying for the world and we're now at the back of the line)
4.) These companies need certain reagents and other supplies to actually manufacture the vaccine and there have been shortages of some of that the past year. It's the same type of issue that the companies that do the testing have run into
5.) I expect that what they are doing to manufacture what is a "novel" vaccine, is a bit complicated, and will require some stringent GMPs to guarantee the purity is to spec and the solutions are sterile, etc. I.e., sometimes you'll have a manufacturing run where a vial shatters on the line and they have to stop the whole thing and basically discard that batch as there might be glass fragments that got into adjacent vials.

So there's lots of moving parts and it's difficult for our government officials (outside of the liars and spinners) to basically "level with" the American people when it comes to something as unprecedented as this.

[BarbD]

23. Sound reasoning.

So many with blood on their hands.

[mysteryowl]

12. More lies

[SWBTATTReg]

13. Why didn't they order enough for all to begin w/? Pfizer offered to deliver more doses if need be.

They initially asked this of this bumbling admin.

[BumRushDaShow]

18. Remember

The GOP mindset was that this was a "hoax" and would be gone "by Easter", and would "wash over"... and then it would be gone "by the summer" and then...

When offered, it was turned down -

Dec 8, 2020 - Health
Gottlieb confirms U.S. government turned down Pfizer offer for more vaccine doses

Oriana Gonzalez


Scott Gottlieb, former FDA commissioner and current Pfizer board member, confirmed on Tuesday that the Trump administration turned down Pfizer's offer for an additional 100 million coronavirus vaccine doses last summer, as the New York Times first reported.

Why it matters: With Pfizer and Moderna the only two manufacturers that have applied for emergency approval from the FDA thus far, vaccine supplies in the U.S. are expected to be too scarce to rapidly inoculate the entire population.

After Pfizer signed its advance contract with the U.S. government for an initial 100 million doses, Pfizer committed to selling its vaccine to other countries, including an agreement to supply the European Union with 200 million doses.

Pfizer is now negotiating with the Trump administration to provide more vaccine doses, but the company cannot guarantee that it will deliver more than the initial 100 million before the summer, per the NYT.

What he's saying: "Pfizer did offer an additional allotment coming out of that plan, basically the second quarter allotment, to the United States government multiple times — and as recently as after the interim data came out and we knew this vaccine looked to be effective," Gottlieb said in an interview with CNBC.

"I think that the government made a bet that they are going to option or advance purchase vaccines from multiple manufacturers. They have agreements now with five or six manufacturers for about 100 million doses each manufacturer. They want to spread those bets," he continued. "I think they're betting that more than one vaccine is going to get authorized and there will be more vaccines on the market, and that perhaps could be why they didn't take up that additional 100 million option agreement."

https://www.axios.com/pfizer-vaccine-trump-administration-gottlieb-161b9da7-d81b-40c4-8689-5a800090c91a.html

Problem is - GSK's vaccine (which used actual virus/viral fragments - whether weakened or dead) was ditched because the efficacy was not there and they have to start over and there are 2 others in the pipeline (J&J and Astrazeneca) although am not sure if they have formally submitted their data for EUA yet).

[gab13by13]

15. Jared was probably selling it to places like the Villages,

and other red states. Maybe some went to Russia, I hear its vaccine isn't the best?

[Jetheels]

16. For the republicans, the pandemic is a fantastic opportunity to destroy and control people, and

make money. It’s never something to cure. This is true historically, not just presently.

[Raven123]

20. After years of griping "government is the problem," finally the GOP is correct

[3825-87867]

21. The "missing" second doses?

First installment of Trump's payment to Putin.

[HUAJIAO]

24. I got my first Moderna shot a couple hours ago through the county health dept.

They said that the Health Dept would contact me in 4 weeks to schedule the 2nd shot.

Now I'm not so sure that's going to happen.

[DeminPennswoods]

25. As fun as it is to point fingers, it's not productive

The first steps on the road to vaccination distribution and administration were always going to be rocky. Maybe it'd have been better under a different administration, but new things generally don't go according to Hoyle.

[BumRushDaShow]

28. You recall our discussion about Azar's comment about "everyone" will be vaccinated

by the end of 2nd quarter and how I noted that this was impossible?

Dec 7, 2020 - Health
Azar: Vaccine will be available to all by mid-2021

Sam Baker


Every American will be able to get a coronavirus vaccine by the second quarter of 2021, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in an interview for "Axios on HBO."

Why it matters: As cases, hospitalizations and deaths keep climbing higher, a vaccine seems to be the only chance the U.S. will have to arrest this pandemic.

"My expectation is that next year we return to normalcy in our lives thanks to the incredible work of Operation Warp Speed and these vaccines, as well as the therapeutics," Azar told Axios' Mike Allen.

Reality check: A lot will have to go right in order to meet Azar's 2021 timeline, but it's not outside the realm of what experts see as realistic in a best-case scenario.

https://www.axios.com/azar-coronavirus-vaccine-axios-hbo-075da60d-b807-43b0-9853-0bfe6c90a678.html

Biden's push to have "100 million vaccinated in the first 100 days" is also going to be very difficult but during his remarks, he at least tempered expectations. There was nothing but pie-in-the-sky fantasy from the current HHS appointees.

Biden released a comprehensive plan to deal with COVID-19 and the economy today - https://apnews.com/article/biden-unveil-plan-coronavirus-economy-a512629b3af12e89ab42097a81668960 (haven't had chance to look at the details)

[DeminPennswoods]

33. By mid-2021? I think that will turn out to be true

There'll be at 3 vaccines approved by then. I suspect by April/May, the US will be swimming in vaccines.

Keep in mind, the people who already have had and recovered from covid19 have some level of immunity, too. All they might really need is a booster shot as they've had the equivalent of a 1st shot.

[BumRushDaShow]

35. The problem right now

is that the vaccine shipping has been inconsistent and many of the staff who would normally do the vaccinations have actually been caring for people who are infected.

During the last Philly presser, they explained how the distribution was done since Philly has a "special status" along with 4 other big cities (NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston) - where we get it shipped directly to the city institutions and the distribution does not go through the state.

https://www.facebook.com/phillyhealth/videos/update-on-covid-19-coronavirus-response-in-philadelphia/158058879430000/?__so__=channel_tab&__rv__=related_videos

Starting at about the 0:53 minute mark in response to a media question, Dr. Caroline Johnson (Deputy Health Commissioner) describes the process -

1.) On Thursday evenings, CDC uploads the counts of the weekly vaccine allotment and this number is noted
2.) On Fridays, the institutions make requests for how much vaccine they anticipate to need for the upcoming week
3.) The city reviews/approves those requests that day and the vaccines are shipped directly to the sites, to arrive by around Monday
4.) Some sites sometimes request that the shipment be held until another day that coming week, so shipments might be uneven

And as a note the other vaccine approvals are NOT immient.

AstraZenaca isn't expected to file for a EUA until possibly April.

Johnson & Johnson hasn't done any Phase III trials yet (still working on Phase II) and if all goes well, they MIGHT be ready to file for a EUA in March.

And as was reported earlier, GSK-Sanofi's attempt failed so they are looking at the end of 2021 to hopefully get something ready for a EUA.

If Biden invokes the NDAA to get some support industries up and running (e.g., making reagents or even the vaccines, however the patents allow), then it might speed up the timeline. But as it stands, there were supposed to be "20 million vaccinated by the end of 2020" and only about 10% of that were done.

Everyone needs to temper expectations. The manufacture of these vaccines are NOT like how someone like Coca Cola might mix up their soda syrup/carbonated water batches, and then fills soda bottles. There are critical GMPs involving careful temperature and sterility requirements that must be maintained throughout the process and any "incident" that happens along the filling line (like a shattered vial or some bug on the ceiling that drops onto conveyor) can spoil a batch.

[DeminPennswoods]

36. It should surprise no one that there are bumps when ramping up

production. I am not 1 bit concerned there won't be enough vaccine in a few months.

[BumRushDaShow]

37. Well there are some pissed-off governors

since in general, the states are attempting to manage the faulty distribution coming weekly to them vs what they were told would come to them - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142672100

And when you have the continual false or misleading statements coming from the Administration via various news organizations, it sets up an unrealistic expectation by the masses, who then start harassing their own state/county Health Departments about when they can get the vaccine, and then blame them for the delays... which is a typical "Newt Gingrich/Steve Bannon" tactic of "blowing up government".

[DeminPennswoods]

41. The governors should have known better then

If they've distributed all the vaccine sent to their states and used it all, they can complain. Otherwise, use what you have and exercise patience.

[BumRushDaShow]

43. Unfortunately it is more complicated than that

because of the temperature requirements of the vaccines, where they need to be shipped (and their storage capabilities), and how many to be shipped - per where appointments/schedules for vaccinations have been established and need to be fulfilled. Once the vials are out of their standard storage temps (particularly the Pfizer one, which would require -94F), then the clock ticks for viability.

This is not like shipping bottles of ketchup. I expect what is not being said is that there might be trays that were sent to a a distribution site with the deep freezer needed to hold them, after which that location then sent them on to an institution, suddenly a blizzard hit (like what happened this past week) and people who scheduled to get a vaccination perhaps a couple weeks ago, couldn't get to the facility.

The vials had already been taken out of deep freeze and shipped in preparation for use and now wouldn't be able to be used (and with the weather situation, the vaccinating facility might not have immediate access to dry ice to keep them much longer - and this is particularly troublesome for rural areas.

So I think there are other factors going on here and simply dismissing the negative impact due to the nonsense from the administration of what is supposedly "available" and the reality "on the ground", doesn't stop "the masses" from harassing the state officials because of the misinformation coming out of the mouths of people like Azar. Hopefully this will start to get rectified after the new President is sworn in and Kessler takes over this effort and Xavier Becerra comes in as HHS Secretary (assuming he is confirmed).

[RobinA]

32. Agreed

I have had my first and second shots and my facility has been juggling Pfizer first shots, Pfizer second shots, Moderna first shots and I'm sure Moderna second shots when they roll around. And this is for a possible 800 and some people, many of whom can't seem to make up their minds. And with a somewhat unreliable supply. I sure would not like to have to manage this, and I'm good at logistics.

And that's not to say the administration has done a good job, because they haven't by a long shot. But I think the logistics at this point of who, where, and when are in the hands of the states. My county seems to be doing a fairly good job right now of doing this on the fly, although it still seems very slow.

[DeminPennswoods]

34. Here in PA, the DoH seems to be doing a pretty good job

They're going to open things up to the 65+ crowd shortly.

You're right, trying to manage 2 two-shot vaccines is not easy especially since they can't be interchanged. One hiccup in the production line and there goes the best laid plans out the window. I did logistics too and it doesn't take much to upend the best, most well thought out planning.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

26. Heckuva job Trumpy

[ffr]

29. Nothing short of willfully criminal, lying so blatantly to the American people!

I blame republicon voters.

[erpowers]

30. Did They Lie About Amount of Vaccine

So, did the Trump Administration lie about the amount of vaccines they had purchased? I thought they had purchased many millions of does of vaccine? How is it that all the vaccines are gone? I thought they only sent out 20 million doses in the first round. I thought there were millions of doses still left to be sent out.

[DeminPennswoods]

42. That's not generally how contracts work

There's a monthly delivery schedule that can be disrupted by something happening to any component of the manufacturing process. Delivery dates are the contractor's best estimate. That can and does change. I experienced that first hand at DoD.

[erpowers]

45. What Did You Do?

What did you do for DOD?

[DeminPennswoods]

47. Was

an inventory/logistics manager. Took the lumps when contractors didn't deliver as promised.

[Sancho]

31. These deplorables are experts at pyramid schemes...

[Hotler]

39. Public caning. nt

[Hassler]

40. Is anyone surprised? Everything Chump touches fails