The Homa Files

Note how short the J&J bar is … only 2.5 million doses have been administered since the vaccine was approved.

That’s only about 60% of the 4.25 million doses that have already been distributed to the states.

What’s going on?

According to Politico…

J&J’s single-shot Covid vaccine was supposed to be the catalyst for the country’s return to normal.

Instead, it’s sparking confusion and finger-pointing between the states and the Biden administration over why millions of doses are sitting unused.

Almost three weeks after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the shots, no one appears to be able to explain why immunizations are lagging.

Some states are thought to be intentionally holding back shots, while others say it takes time to inoculate harder-to-reach underserved communities and specific groups.

Politico’s central conclusion: The bumpy J&J rollout highlights the challenges the White House still faces ensuring a timely and steady administration of Covid-19 vaccines.

The initial J&J experience may be a proverbial “canary in the coal mine” … simply a precursor of what’s to come.

To that point…

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> States have final say in how their allotments are distributed.

“While states are attentive to and respectful of federal guidance, but they then do what works for them.”

Some are using the J&J vaccine on populations harder to reach.

Others are putting speed over equity and sending out the shots broadly.

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> More specifically, there’s a trade-off between speed (i.e. maximizing the number of “shots in arms”) and “equity” (vaccinating specific demographic groups).

For example, mass distribution sites — which the Biden administration has been emphasizing to reach the “total doses administered” target — excel at speed but are under-utilized by minority communities and, thus, fall short on equity.

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> Getting vaccines to under-served communities to achieve an equity goal is much more complex logistically — requiring many local vaccination sites … some fixed sites (e.g. retail pharmacies & community health clinics) … and some “pop-up” or mobile sites (e.g. at workplaces, churches).

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> And, the large pool of pent-up pro-vaccine demand (i.e. the “early adopters”) is quickly being satisfied.

The next stage will be converting those people who are hesitant or resistant to the vaccines.

It’s increasing apparent that many people in that group will be hard sells.

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Said bluntly, the Biden administration has been riding on the coattails of Operation Warp Speed … the sizable basket of “low hanging fruit” has been picked … and the next phases of the roll-out will test Team Biden’s logistics and communications capabilities … the hard part is yet to come.

Here’s wishing them good luck …

This entry was posted on March 23, 2021 at 10:00 am and is filed under COVID - vaccine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.