Montana Sen. Jon Tester says the Trump administration has failed to produce a national COVID-19 vaccine plan, resulting in unnecessary delays getting the vaccine to the country.
In a letter Monday to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Tester and 44 other Democratic senators urged the federal government to develop a nationwide vaccine strategy. In their letter, the senators noted that only 36% of vaccines so far distributed have been administered, a number they claimed is a consequence of poor communication with states and lack of transparency over distribution data.
“With our health system and economy in crisis, and millions of lives at stake, we cannot afford for this vaccination campaign to continue to be hindered by the lack of planning, communication, and leadership we have seen so far,” Tester and his colleagues wrote in the letter. “It is the federal government’s role to ensure states, Tribes, localities, and the public are receiving the resources and support they need, rather than requiring every jurisdiction to manage on their own without the benefit of the national resources and perspective that only the federal government can provide.”
Tester and his colleagues included a number of recommendations in their letter, including providing guidance for states, local governments and health care providers for vaccine distribution. The senators also suggested the federal government specify how it would help resolve staffing and supply issues at the local level.
As of Jan. 8, Montana has administered more than 33,000 of the 52,000 doses shipped to the state. Another 41,000 doses are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.
Montana is currently in the first part – phase 1a – of its four-step vaccine plan. Phase 1a includes frontline health care workers, health care workers with patient contact or virus exposure and residents of long-term care and assisted living facilities.
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