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The Biden administration vowed drug companies would make enough vaccine to immunize 300 million Americans by the end of the summer.
But getting the vaccine from the factory to the arms of people has been anything but smooth. Of 47.2 million doses shipped to states and nursing homes, 24.6 million have been administered, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.Â
The nation’s slow rollout boiled over from California, which tapped Blue Shield to allocate vaccines, to Maryland where Gov. Larry Hogan implored the federal government to send more doses of potentially lifesaving vaccine.
A hospital in Arlington, Virginia, canceled 10,000 vaccine appointments, citing the state’s decision to send doses to county health departments rather than directly to hospitals and other health providers.  In Minnesota, a vaccine lottery offered 8,000 appointments to more than 226,000 people who signed up over a 24-hour period this week.
Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to the White House COVID-19 response team, said fixes are in the works.
The federal government will ship 10 million doses per week to states over the next three weeks, he said, allowing them“visibility” to plan distribution.
“We know there are places in the country without enough vaccine, and at the same time, there are places with vaccines they are not using yet,” Slavitt said. “This is a natural challenge states are facing.”
States need Congress to pass President Joe Biden’s coronavirus rescue plan, Slavitt said, to get on-the-ground help to administer vaccines quickly and efficiently.
Biden vows swift action:‘Health of the nation is literally at stake’
As of Wednesday, 16 stateshad used less than half of vaccine doses shipped to them, according to the CDC’s vaccine tracker: Alabama, Wisconsin, Kansas, Hawaii, Arizona, Pennsylvania, California, Maryland, Minnesota, Idaho, Missouri, Mississippi, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nebraska and Ohio.
North Dakota and West Virginia had administered at least three-quarters of vaccine doses.Â
CDC officials acknowledged the agency’s reporting lags states’ data. Vaccine sites must report vaccinations to public health agencies within three days of administering a shot. It’s likely some states have administered more doses than what the CDC reported.
Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said the agency is working to improve tracking.Â
“Much of our work over the next week is going to make sure that we can tighten up the timelines to understand where in the pipeline the vaccine actually is and when exactly it is administered,” she said.
‘A real shot we are saving someone’s life’
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said the CDC figures lowballed his state’s vaccine distribution. The agency reported the state had distributed nearly 77% of doses as of Wednesday; 9.5% of West Virginians have received at least one vaccine shot, a higher rate than all but Alaska’s 11.4%.
Justice said the state generally administers vaccine the same week it receives doses. The state employed the West Virginia National Guard and partnered with 250 local and independent pharmacists to administer vaccines in clinics rather than relying on national chains CVS and Walgreens like other states. Â
“You can’t leave this stuff on a warehouse shelf – you’ve got to move,” Justice told USA TODAY.  “Every shot we’re getting in someone’s arm is a real shot we are saving someone’s life.”
Vaccine tracker:Tracking COVID-19 vaccine distribution by state
Residents and staff of most nursing homes in the state are on track to get second doses of vaccines within a week, Justice said. West Virginia expanded immunization for adults over 65 through community clinics. The state can administer 125,000 to 150,000 shots each week, Justice said.Â
“What we’ve needed for weeks is more vaccine,” he said.
In California, insurance companyBlue Shield will manage the statewide vaccination effort and allocate doses to hospitals, pharmacies and other providers. Before, the state allocated doses to public health departments and hospitals, but counties were unable to track how much vaccine hospitals carried. As of Wednesday, 47% of vaccines distributed to the state had made it to arms, according to the CDC.
Doctors and providers in other states field questions from people anxious about the slow nationwide rollout.
Edgar Silvey, CEO of Baton Rouge Clinic in Louisiana, has pushed for weeks to get more doses to his large clinic that serves about 27,000 adults over 70 who are eligible for vaccine.
Silvey said his clinic had leftover doses after vaccinating staff and employees and began administering shots to eligible patients. The clinic will get 200 doses this week.  Baton Rouge Clinic initially promoted vaccine through social media and its website, but the clinic was flooded with phone calls, so instead it began a waiting list. People are called when a dose is available.Â
Silvey said he’s careful to not wear his Baton Rouge Clinic-branded face mask in public because “I’m going to get a million questions” from people angry about the difficulty getting vaccine.
A nationwide survey from the Medical Group Management Association found 85% of independent medical practices had not received any vaccine.Â
Silvey attributed the nation’s uneven rollout to public health departments and medical providers “learning on the fly” about the nuances of mass vaccination. Some smaller clinics probably don’t have refrigerated units to store doses, he said.
As more doses become available, he expects clinics and other vaccination sites will face greater pressure to get shots in arms.
“I’m more nervous in a few weeks when vaccine becomes available,” Silvey said. “It’s one thing to be angry because there is none. It’s another if you can’t get it because (clinics) have vaccine but can’t give it out fast enough.”
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