Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sent a letter last week to the nation’s governors with an urgent request. The Trump administration wanted them to do everything in their power to eliminate hurdles for vaccine distribution sites to be fully operational by Nov. 1.
The Aug. 27 letter, obtained by McClatchy, asked governors to fast-track permits and licenses for new distribution sites. “The normal time required to obtain these permits presents a significant barrier to the success of this urgent public health program,” Redfield wrote.
“CDC urgently requests your assistance in expediting applications for these distribution facilities,” he continued, “and, if necessary, asks that you consider waiving requirements that would prevent these facilities from becoming fully operational by November 1, 2020.”
“ The requirements you may be asked to waive in order to expedite vaccine distribution will not compromise the safety or integrity of the products being distributed,” he added.
It was the latest hurried federal request of state governments to prepare for the arrival of a vaccine for COVID-19, the pandemic disease that has killed roughly 185,000 Americans.
Last month, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, a top CDC official working on the federal coronavirus response, warned that state public health departments are “running out of time” to draft plans for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines – and requested states submit proposals by Oct. 1.
Delivery firms have received guidance from Trump administration officials to prepare freezer farms in the heartland and get ready to load vaccines onto trucks no later than Nov. 1.
The rush is putting pressure on state health systems already strapped for resources – and appears out of sync with the progress of ongoing clinical trials for coronavirus vaccines, which are still recruiting volunteers who will test the safety and effectiveness of the drugs.
Some supply chain experts are expressing concern that Trump administration officials with “Operation Warp Speed,” the federal program accelerating vaccine development, have failed to adequately communicate the responsibilities that state and local governments will take on once the logistically demanding task of distributing a COVID-19 vaccine is upon them.
“At this point, we should know much more about what the intended distribution system looks like, and what the plan is,” said Dr. Julie Swann, head of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at North Carolina State University and an adviser to the CDC during its response to the H1N1 pandemic in 2009.
The first vaccines most likely to emerge from Phase III clinical trials will pose exceptional challenges to public health officials, requiring storage in sub-zero temperatures and two doses per individual spread weeks apart.
0 Yorumlar