US Faces Vaccine Cliff After Trump Failed to Ramp Up Supplies, Allowed American-Made Doses to Be Sent Overseas; McConnell Blocked Funds for Distribution

Millions of Americans Shut Out of Access to Pfizer, Moderna Vaccines After Trump Failed to Secure Supply

States, Health Experts Call for Billions in Funding for Vaccine Distribution While McConnell Blocks Relief

As the coronavirus crisis worsens, the United States is facing a predicament of Donald Trump’s making: Americans will soon be shut out of the distribution of two highly-effective vaccines that could have expedited the end of this deadly pandemic.

Donald Trump failed to secure millions of doses of the new Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, both of which are 95% effective — even declining repeated offers from Pfizer to purchase additional doses. Instead, Trump is allowing precious, and limited, supplies to be shipped overseas. 

Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell is sabotaging good-faith efforts to provide funding for the distribution of the vaccine doses that we do have — ensuring the continuity of a crisis that is claiming thousands of lives daily. 

Millions of Americans Will Be Unable to Receive the Highly Effective Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines Next Year Because Trump Allowed Doses to Be Shipped Overseas

• The United States Is Unlikely To Be Able To Acquire Additional Doses Of The Pfizer And Moderna Vaccines After Trump Allowed Supply To Be Sent Overseas. “The United States could be heading for a vaccine cliff this spring, with shortages forcing hundreds of millions of Americans to wait for shots amid intense global competition for limited doses. The Trump administration has bought 100 million doses each of vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, but the U.S. is unlikely to get additional doses anytime soon because of strong international demand. And both vaccines require two doses per person, effectively halving the already scarce supply.” [Politico, 12/8/20]
  
• The Trump Administration Declined An Offer To Secure Between 100 Million And 500 Million Additional Doses Of The Pfizer Vaccine. “The [US] government was in July given the option to request 100 million to 500 million additional doses. But despite repeated warnings from Pfizer officials that demand could vastly outstrip supply and amid urges to pre-order more doses, the Trump administration turned down the offer, according to several people familiar with the discussions.” [New York Times, 12/7/20]
• Baylor College of Medicine’s Peter Hotez Predicted Pfizer And Moderna Vaccines Would Not Be Available To Americans In Spring And Summer Because The Trump Administration Did Not Secure Enough Doses, And Americans Will Be Forced To Rely On Vaccines That Haven’t Been Proven To Be Effective. “Trump administration officials insisted Tuesday that most American adults can be vaccinated by May. But despite President Donald Trump’s attempt to compel vaccine sales to the U.S. by executive order, most Americans’ best hope of getting a shot by spring or early summer may rest on vaccines that have not yet been proven to work — such as the doses being developed by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. ‘We’re clearly not going to get there’ with the Moderna and Pfizer shots, said Peter Hotez, a virologist and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, who is working on a vaccine candidate with partners in India. ‘We’re going to need four or five different vaccines.’” [Politico, 12/8/20]

States Lack the Funding to Prepare for the Mass Distribution of the Vaccine

• Even Though Vaccine Distribution Will Cost Anywhere Between $6 Billion And $13.3 Billion, Only $340 Million Has Been Allocated Thus Far. “While the Trump administration has spent more than $10 billion supporting the development of COVID-19 vaccines, just $340 million has been allocated to agencies below the federal level to help with distribution efforts that will cost anywhere from $6 billion to $13.3 billion, according to various estimates. Health care workers, nursing home residents and other priority groups could be vaccinated as soon as this month, according to estimates by Trump officials. But the administration has not planned for the subsequent vaccination of hundreds of millions of Americans in the general population next year or how to pay for it.” [The Hill, 12/5/20]
  
• States And Health Officials Have Called For At Least $8.4 Billion In Additional Funding For Vaccine Distribution. “On behalf of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) we are writing to request at least $8.4 billion for COVID-19 vaccination distribution plus an additional $500 million for seasonal influenza operations in the next emergency supplemental funding package. These funds are urgently needed to expand and strengthen federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal capacity for a timely, comprehensive, and equitable vaccine distribution campaign. It is important to note this funding request is updated from our estimate provided earlier this summer to reflect emerging information from the vaccine clinical trials, current public health agency priorities, and the need to bolster public confidence in a COVID-19 vaccination campaign.” [Letter to Congressional Leaders, Association of Immunization Managers and Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, 10/15/20] 
• Underfunded State Health Departments Are Concerned That They Won’t Have Enough Money To Manage The Logistics Necessary To Undertake A Mass Vaccination Campaign. “The other concern [for vaccine distribution] is a lack of funds. State public health systems are notoriously underfunded and now they’re being asked to mount an ‘all hands on deck’ undertaking with an already exhausted staff… States had some money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, known as the CARES Act. And the CDC awarded $200 million to states for vaccine preparedness in September. But it won’t go far, say public health officials.” [USA Today, 12/8/20]
  
• States Need Funding To Pay The Staff That Will Prepare For And Provide Vaccinations. “‘A very large proportion of our staff time has gone into this,’ [Nevada Immunization Program Manager Shannon Bennett] said. ‘Typically we have around 20 state full-time staffers. Right now we’re in the low 30s.’  Those people have to be paid, said Tiffany Tate, executive director of the Maryland Partnership for Prevention, a nonprofit that supports the state’s immunization coalitions…. The coordinator who spends days checking the credentials of everyone hired to give shots also must be paid, as well as the person organizing the schedule and the staffers answering hotline questions and billing insurance companies to get reimbursed for giving the shot. Given Pfizer’s estimate that each immunization should take 10 minutes, it would take $136 million to simply pay for the staff time necessary for the state of Maryland to give everyone there the two-dose vaccine. ‘We’re not ready for that,’ Tate said.” [USA Today, 12/8/20]
• State Officials Are Calling On The Federal Government To Supply The Funds Necessary For The Vaccine Campaigns. “Conducting a mass vaccination campaign in the middle of a global pandemic costs millions and the money is going to have to come from the federal government. Mississippi is very straightforward. It will need $30 million to distribute [the] vaccine statewide, and state Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs was confident the needed funds will come from the federal government. Others are less convinced. Federal funding is essential for the vaccine initiatives, said Kentucky Gov. Beshear. ‘I can’t overstate how bad it would be if Congress doesn’t act and they basically say, “You’re on your own,”’ he said.” [USA Today, 12/8/20]
  

• • • Dr. Thomas E. Dobbs III, State Health Officer Of Mississippi: “We Absolutely Do Not Have Enough To Pull This Off Successfully.” “‘We absolutely do not have enough [money] to pull this off successfully,’ said Dr. Thomas E. Dobbs III, the state health officer of Mississippi. ‘This is going to be a phenomenal logistical feat, to vaccinate everybody in the country. We absolutely have zero margin for failure. We really have to get this right.’” [New York Times, 11/22/20]
      
    • Dr. Mandy K. Cohen, Secretary of Health And Human Services In North Carolina: State Needs $30 Million For First Year Of Vaccine Distribution. “Dr. Mandy K. Cohen, the secretary of health and human services in North Carolina, said her state had received just $6 million for distributing and promoting the shot. She expects $3 million more by the end of the year and called the money ‘a down payment’ for what is likely to be $30 million worth of work over the first year of vaccine distribution.” [New York Times, 11/22/20]
      
    • Dr. Nirav Shah, Director Of The Maine Center For Disease Control And Prevention: “The Speed At Which We Vaccinate The Population In Maine Is Directly Dependent On The Funding.” “Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that more than anything, insufficient funding would slow the rate of vaccination, particularly among disadvantaged populations that are harder to reach. ‘The speed at which we vaccinate the population in Maine is directly dependent on the funding,’ he said. ‘We will still get the job done, but it will take longer if I can’t train the people to give it.’” [New York Times, 11/22/20]”’
      
• Kentucky Health And Family Services Spokesperson Susan Dunlap:  “It Is Crucial That Congress Provide Additional Financial Support To States To Successfully Distribute Covid-19 Vaccines.” “Kentucky Health and Family Services spokesperson Susan Dunlap [said], ‘Once CARES Act funding expires after Dec. 30, funding [for distribution] will be insufficient.’ ‘It is crucial that Congress provide additional financial support to states to successfully distribute COVID-19 vaccines,’ Dunlap said.” [ABC News, 11/18/20]

Mitch McConnell Is Sabotaging Good-Faith Efforts to Provide States and Localities With Funding for the Distribution of a Vaccine to Protect His Corporate Donors

• The New Bipartisan Coronavirus Relief Framework Allocates $6 Billion In Funding For Vaccine Distribution. “Vaccine Development & Distribution: $3.42B for direct grants for states, local, territories, and tribes; Allows states to use funds for tracking systems and data modernization; Directing the Secretary to take into account geographical areas with high percentage of cross jurisdictional workers; $2.58B for CDC vaccine distribution and infrastructure [including] $129 million for tribes, tribal organizations, urban Indian health organizations, or health service providers to tribes; Contingency/Discretionary fund to be utilized by Secretary to send additional aid to states to assist with vaccine distribution; Allows states to use USPS registry to help track vaccine distribution.” [Bipartisan Emergency COVID Relief Act of 2020 Framework Summary, 12/9/20]
  

• The New Bipartisan Coronavirus Relief Framework Agrees, In Principle, To Provide $160 Billion To Underfunded State And Local Governments. “Support for State, Local and Tribal Governments: Agreement in principle to provide $160 billion as the basis for good faith negotiations.” [Bipartisan Emergency COVID Relief Act of 2020 Framework Summary, 12/9/20]
  

• Mitch McConnell Continues To Obstruct Aid Desperately Required For The Effective Distribution Of A Vaccine To Push For Special Legal Protections For Corporations. “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) has said that any package that passes the Senate must include beefed-up liability protections. GOP legislation would make it more difficult for courts to find businesses, schools, or health-care facilities at fault if employees, students, or customers contracted Covid-19. It also would give federal courts jurisdiction over cases involving alleged coronavirus exposure and last through 2024, Mr. McConnell said.” [Wall Street Journal, 12/7/20]
  

• • McConnell Has Only Agreed To Set Aside Special Legal Protections For Corporations If Democrats Agree To Abandon Efforts To Supply States With Desperately Needed Aid. “McConnell on Tuesday called for abandoning the two biggest sticking points: liability protections and aid to state and local governments. ‘What I recommend is we set aside liability and set aside state and local and pass those things that we agree on knowing full well we’ll be back at this after the first of the year,’ McConnell told reporters. [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi quickly rejected McConnell’s proposal. ‘He’s sabotaging good-faith negotiations because his partisan, ideological effort is not getting a good reception,’ Schumer said at a news conference. Pelosi in a statement called McConnell’s suggestion ‘appalling.’” [Roll Call, 12/8/20]
    

• • According To Public Citizen, Corporate Groups Lobbying For Special Legal Protections Have Donated More Than $800,000 To Mitch McConnell. “Business groups pushing for corporate immunity have given more than $1.2 million to the two U.S. Senate Republicans leading the charge to include immunity in any pandemic response legislation. According to a review of Federal Election Commission data by The American Independent, since 2016, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who authored the proposal, has received more than $430,000 from the political action committees of trade associations pushing for immunity. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has received more than $825,000.” [Public Citizen, 8/10/20]