Gov. Newsom tells Fauci 'we may have overpromised' on vaccine availability
By: Caitlin McFall (Fox News)
Remember the firestorm that erupted over states not receiving the number of dose they were expecting? Gov. Galvin Newsom expressed disappointment and blamed Operation Warp Speed. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made hair-on-fire allegations and spewed spittle laden outrage. The main stream media floated the false narrative that state's allocations had been cut.
Ten days later these governors have fallen off their high horses. It seems that the process of administering vaccines is a little more involved than just sticking needles in arms (or shoving swabs up people's noses). Turns out that administering the vaccines is a process not too dissimilar with blood donation requiring more detailed record keeping and monitoring time. And cutting corners to speed that process will have ramifications later on.
Even now the news reporting is pushing the narrative that California has received only 1.8 million of an expected 2.4 million doses in an effort to sully Operation Warp Speed. But the important point is California has administered 300,000 doses. Pointing fingers won't change where the real problem lies.
To his credit, Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledges that the state's efforts have fallen short. That's a fact and not an attempt to cast aspersions or find fault. The process to vaccinate everyone is an enormous task and planning simply cannot address every possible problem.
We are now in the most difficult part of the pandemic. Vaccines, the best weapon against the virus, are now available. But the process of administering the vaccines will require time. If everyone could be vaccinated today, we'd still need to wait six to eight weeks before both doses become fully effective.
We need to stay the course and await our turn. Jumping line and cutting corners won't end the pandemic any sooner.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
California Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged this week that vaccine distribution is slower than originally hoped for in the Golden Gate State, but health experts are hopeful vaccinations will pick up in the new year.
Roughly 300,000 frontline workers received the first round of vaccines in the two weeks since distributions launched throughout California - though the figure falls well short of the intended 2.4 million people in the first vaccine group.
"That we've already administered 300,000 doses is extraordinary," Newsom said during a Wednesday Facebook live event with Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "But there's been some frustration, a little bit of frustration — we may have overpromised a little bit in the short run about the availability and the distribution of vaccine."
Operation Warp Speed, the federal program overseeing the distribution of vaccines to states nationwide has distributed 14 million doses of the first round of vaccines, though the figure falls short of the projected distribution of 20 million vaccines by end of December.
U.S. Army Gen. Gustave Perna, the chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, said the slow distribution rate is also in part due to hospitals struggling to deliver vaccines in an efficient manner. In Florida earlier this week, hundreds of seniors waited in line to be vaccinated under the first-come, first-serve system currently in place.
"There is a learning curve," Moncef Slaoui, chief science adviser for Operation Warp Speed, told reporters Wednesday.
"There were a number of days that were lost because of the holidays or snowstorms," he added.
California originally expected to receive 2.4 million doses by the end of December, but received just 1.8 million instead, according to the San Francisco Chronical.
"We know the number of doses that have arrived has produced less than what was originally professed," Newsom said during a Wednesday news briefing, before adding that he was neither "shocked" nor "disappointed."
"At this stage, I really think it's wise for us to be a little more humble about where we are in relationship to this unprecedented effort to vaccinate hundreds of millions of Americans in a very short period of time."
California recently reinforced lockdown measures following spikes in coronavirus cases, reporting over 27,000 new cases Thursday, contributing to the state's more than 2.2 million cases and 25,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
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Now is the time for patience. Stay the course. Follow the guidelines. We really are rounding the bend on the pandemic.
While I agree completely with the article and your take on it, the biggest difficulty toward realistic expectations in vaccination rates is the penchant for some to never waste the chance to use a crises to attack their opponents. Realistic expectations are not their concern.
Kneejerk outrage? Unfortunately our political discourse no longer attempts to solve problems. We no longer debate, we only throw stones. 'Winning' by any means has become the most important thing.
We do that and more. Stampede the public into thoughtless action by appealing for the need of Solution B to solve Crisis A before it's too late, even though Solution B may, with thought, be revealed later to have more to do with achieving a political goal than solving Crisis A.