'Way behind the curve': The messaging concerns around coronavirus vaccine distribution

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Fri, 2020-12-11 22:03 — mike kraft

'Way behind the curve': The messaging failures around coronavirus vaccine distribution As the world watched the first Briton receive her coronavirus vaccine this week, Operation Warp Speed officials appeared bewildered by questions about whether such a prominent rollout was planned for the first dose in the US. Annie Grayer, Sara Murray and Ellie Kaufman, CNN CNN

(CNN) As the world watched the first Briton receive her coronavirus vaccine this week, Operation Warp Speed officials appeared bewildered by questions about whether such a prominent rollout was planned for the first dose in the US.

Asked by a reporter if there was a plan to publicize the milestone in the US, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said, "You make me feel as if we should."

"We probably do need to make a plan for, you know, who's going to get it first visibly," said Army Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed.

The exchange offered the latest example of the lack of coordinated communications plan from the federal government just days before the first Americans could begin receiving a coronavirus vaccine.

As videos of first Britons receiving the vaccine were replayed on televisions and cell phones across the United States this week, Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, said it was "one of those Sputnik moments."

"We're way behind the curve," Benjamin said, lamenting the lack of communication from the federal government. "We really need to begin very aggressively working to give people a better understanding of the vaccination needs and the trade-offs."

A senior administration official noted the US doesn't have a centralized health care system akin to Britain's and said federal officials didn't want a ceremonial event to delay the distribution of vaccines elsewhere.

Michael Pratt, an Operation Warp Speed spokesman, added the administration's communications plans are already underway and will be well-timed with the Food and Drug Administration's emergency use authorization (EUA) of the Pfizer vaccine. ...

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