LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A frustrated Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday criticized the Trump administration because Michigan will receive fewer doses of the COVID-19 vaccine than expected in its next allocation, saying she cannot get a “straight answer.”
The state is due 60,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in its second allotment, down from an anticipated 84,825. Several other states have reported similar cuts.
“I still cannot get a straight answer out of the Trump administration about why Michigan, like many other states, is receiving a fraction of the vaccines that we were slated to receive,” the Democratic governor said at a news conference. “There are millions of Pfizer vaccines, many right here in Portage, Michigan, that are waiting to be shipped. But the feds are slow-walking the process of getting the addresses to Pfizer for some reason I cannot get an answer to.”
She pointed the finger at the White House, blaming it for a “bottleneck” despite hospitals and nursing homes being ready.
Spokespeople at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the evolving response, told The Associated Press: “There is some confusion between planning and training numbers provided in mid-November and official allocations. Official allocations only come the week ahead because they’re based on the number of doses available to allocate. We are working on clearing up any confusion with the states.”
Federal officials have said Pfizer’s statement this week about doses awaiting shipping instructions, while technically accurate, conveniently omits the explanation: It was planned that way.
They said Pfizer committed to provide 6.4 million doses of its vaccine in the first week after approval. But the federal Operation Warp Speed had already planned to distribute only 2.9 million of those doses right away. Another 2.9 million were to be held at Pfizer’s warehouse to guarantee that individuals vaccinated the first week would be able to get their second shot later to make protection fully effective. Finally, the government is holding an additional 500,000 doses as a reserve against unforeseen problems.
Whitmer was not alone in her criticism of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association, said “the lack of communication and clarity” is “disappointing and frustrating. … Any delay in receipt of vaccine prolongs the vaccination process and puts healthcare workers at increased risk for contracting this deadly disease.”
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Associated Press writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington contributed to this report.
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