Governors Complain Over Pace of COVID-19 Vaccine Shipments

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR and DAVID CRARY Associated Press Governors bitterly accused the Trump administration Friday of deceiving the states about the amount of COVID-19 vaccine they can expect to receive as they ramp up vaccinations for senior citizens and others. But the government attributed the anger to confusion and misguided expectations on the part of the states. Meanwhile, the race between the vaccine and the virus may be about to heat up: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the new, more infectious variant first seen in Britain will probably become the dominant version in the U.S. by March. The CDC said it is about 50% more contagious than the virus that is causing the bulk of cases in this country so far. “We want to sound the alarm,” said Dr. Jay Butler, CDC deputy director for infectious diseases. The clash over the pace of the government’s COVID-19 vaccine allotments threatens to escalate tensions between the Trump administration and some states over who is responsible for the relatively slow start to the vaccination drive against the scourge that has killed over 390,000 Americans. Oregon had announced earlier this week that it would expand vaccine eligibility to roughly 760,000 residents 65 and older, as well teachers and child care providers, because of what it said were promises that the state’s vaccine allotment would be increased. But Democratic Gov. Kate Brown said those plans a...
Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: AP News Coronavirus Source Type: news