Nonexistent COVID-19 Vaccine Stockpile 'Puts Plans At Grave Risk'

State-level public officials are sounding the alarm after the COVID-19 vaccine stockpile they had been relying on to get Operation Warp Speed back-on-track turned out to be nonexistent. Alex Azar, secretary of Health and Human Services, said Tuesday that instead of holding second doses back they would be sent out immediately.

Azar said it was a change to reflect new confidence that COVID-19 vaccine production would be reliable. When states inquired as to when they would get the vaccines, however, they were informed the policy had been in place for weeks and no extra doses would be sent, according to the Washington Post.

“Because we now have a consistent pace of production, we can now ship all of the doses that had been held in physical reserve,” Azar said Tuesday.

When health officials realized that “all of the doses in physical reserve” in fact referred to zero doses, they began furiously contacting national offices to ask how they were supposed to stay on track.

“If true, this is extremely disturbing, and puts our plans to expand eligibility at grave risk,” said Oregon health director Patrick M. Allen in a letter shared with The Washington Post. “Those plans were made on the basis of reliance on your statement about ‘releasing the entire supply’ you have in reserve. If this information is accurate, we will be unable to begin vaccinating our vulnerable seniors on Jan. 23, as planned.”

National officials blamed the states, saying that the idea of a large stockpile was a “false rumor” when on Tuesday Azar himself had announced they would begin “releasing the entire supply we have for order by states, rather than holding second doses in physical reserve.”

Azar also said that states had only ordered 75% of the doses available to them.

Further exacerbating the confusion was a new program that would give more doses to states administering them the fastest. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said his state would receive an extra 50,000 shots, but national officials clarified the program would not start for two weeks.

West Virginia, which is the state administering vaccines the fastest, is for some reason not slated to receive any extra doses.

The chaotic and faltering efforts of Operation Warp Speed might end when Joe Biden takes office. The Biden administration will shelve the misnomer, NPR reports, and end the rewards program that “punishes states” that need the most help.