Cronkite News
By Ken Alltucker | USA TODAY
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.
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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.
