Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Governors Complain About Federal Vaccine Coordination
CNN: Governors Tell Biden In Letter Some Covid Vaccine Efforts Are Creating Confusion And Inefficiency
A bipartisan group of governors expressed concern Monday at the Biden administration's vaccine rollout, writing in a letter to the White House that better coordination is needed between the federal government and states on distributing doses to prevent confusion and duplicative efforts. (Liptak and Murray, 2/15)
In other national news —
Bloomberg: Nursing Home Vaccine Push Heads For Completion, A Month Behind Schedule
A U.S. program to vaccinate nursing home residents and staff is moving slowly toward completion in the coming weeks, with the goal of wrapping up the effort by late next month. The federally run program contracted with major pharmacy chains around the U.S. Launched in December, it was meant to speed vaccines to the most vulnerable people in the U.S. But disruptions over the winter holidays and the challenge of going from facility to facility vaccinating older people have added at least a month to the timeline. (Armstrong, 2/12)
The Hill: Pentagon Approves 20 Additional COVID-19 Vaccination Teams
The Pentagon has approved 20 more military teams, a combined total of 4,700 service members, to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administer COVID-19 vaccines across the country. Following last week’s approval of five such teams, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized an additional 20 to support FEMA at vaccination mega-sites and smaller locations, top Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Friday. (Mitchell, 2/12)
The Hill: Pfizer Exec 'Confident' In Ability To Deliver 2 Billion Coronavirus Vaccine Doses This Year
An executive at Pfizer said he and the company are “confident” in its ability to deliver 2 billion doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year in an interview with the Associated Press published Sunday. “Right now, we can potentially deliver approximately 2 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2021,” Mike McDermott, the president of global supply at Pfizer, told the AP. (Coleman, 2/14)
