White House will redistribute unallocated vaccines to more needy states

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Tue, 2021-05-04 19:11 — mike kraft

White House to shift how it distributes unallocated vaccines to states White House officials on Tuesday told states that if they do not order their full allocation of vaccine doses in the coming weeks, those doses will be reallocated as the administration shifts how it Brett Samuels TheHill

White House officials on Tuesday told states that if they do not order their full allocation of vaccine doses in the coming weeks, those doses will be reallocated as the administration shifts how it gets the shot to areas most in need.

The White House outlined the new policy in a call with governors, according to an official on the call. States previously ordered doses from the federal government and were able to carry over unordered shots if demand ticked up.

But the new policy means the unordered doses will go into a pool of vaccines for the federal government to send to areas where demand outnumbers supply. The change comes as the nation has seen a downturn in vaccination rates.

The Biden administration has been allocating coronavirus vaccine doses to states based on population in an effort to ensure equitable distribution. But some states have recently opted not to order their full allocation as a greater percentage of their residents get vaccinated and as outreach becomes more targeted. ...

"States have been trying to figure this out," the official on the call said. "Bottom line, I don't think [the Biden administration] loved the governors negotiating it among themselves."

States will still be able to increase their order from week-to-week, according to the official, meaning governors will be able to adjust if they see vaccine demand rise.

"This is great news—Oregon has been using all the vaccines we can get and I intend to ask for the maximum available from this new federal vaccine bank," Oregon Gov. Kate Brown tweeted in response to the announcement. "We are in a race with COVID-19 variants, and this will help us get more shots in arms as quickly as possible." ...

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