Less COVID-19 vaccine coming to Kansas, Missouri, officials say. The reason is unclear
Kansas and Missouri officials say they will receive fewer doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine than anticipated, potentially slowing the drive to inoculate health care workers as the virus continues to infect thousands of residents every day.
Other states reported reductions as well, though officials had little information about why. Pfizer, which is producing the only vaccine currently approved for emergency use, said Thursday that it had millions of doses sitting in warehouses but hadn’t received shipping instructions from the U.S. government.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the federal government informed the agency of the cut but provided no reasons for the change. Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams estimated a 25-30 percent reduction.
“We know this is going to be a dynamic situation,” Williams said.
The United States remains in the earliest days of what will be a months-long push to vaccinate the population. The very first vaccines were administered only Monday. As of Wednesday, just shy of a thousand Missourians and at least several hundred Kansans had been vaccinated—all health care workers.
Kansas’s weekly allocation of Pfizer vaccine is roughly 29,000 doses, while Missouri’s is about 52,000. KDHE spokeswoman Kristi Zears said Kansas now expects to receive 17,550 doses -- a 40 percent reduction. A 30 percent reduction in Missouri, as Williams estimated, would mean the state would only receive about 31,000 doses.
“The federal government has reduced allocations of vaccines beginning next week,” Zears said.
White House spokesman Michael Bars pushed back against the notion that the new numbers amount to cuts. “No allocations have been cut. This is inaccurate,” Bars said.
States are using a software platform called Tiberius to manage vaccine distribution. Tiberius included exercise and planning modules where states could view potential allocations. A federal official familiar with the matter said states were still looking at the modules as last week and that when they went to a separate program called the Vaccine Tracking System to order doses, the numbers were lower.
Any logistical problems now, when only a single vaccine is available and vaccination efforts are concentrated exclusively on health care workers and nursing home residents raise questions about the country’s ability to ramp up in the weeks and months ahead.
Pfizer said in a statement that it had successfully shipped all 2.9 million doses this week it had been asked to ship by the federal government. It said it hasn’t had any production issues and no shipments have been delayed.
“We have millions more doses sitting in our warehouse but, as of now, we have not received any shipment instructions for additional doses,” the company said.
The FDA is expected to soon authorize emergency use of a vaccine developed by Moderna, which will expand the supply of doses. Unlike Pfizer, the Moderna vaccine doesn’t have to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures. Williams has said Missouri plans to use Moderna doses to vaccinate nursing home residents because it’s easier to handle.
This story was originally published December 17, 2020 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Less COVID-19 vaccine coming to Kansas, Missouri, officials say. The reason is unclear."
