Dec 19, 2020 - Health

General apologizes for "miscommunication" over vaccine shipments

Jacob Knutson

Commander of US Army Material Command Gen. Gustave Perna speaking in the White House in May 2020. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Army Gen. Gustave Perna, the member of Operation Warp Speed responsible for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, apologized on Saturday for the "miscommunication" with states over the number of doses they will receive next week, AP reports.

Why it matters: The general's apology comes after multiple governors said they were told that their states would receive between 25%-40% fewer vaccine doses than originally projected.

What he's saying: “I want to take personal responsibility for the miscommunication,” Perna said, per AP.

“I know that’s not done much these days. But I am responsible. ... This is a herculean effort and we are not perfect," Perna added.
"I am the one who approved forecast sheets. I’m the one who approved allocations."
“There is no problem with the process. There is no problem with the Pfizer vaccine. There is no problem with the Moderna vaccine.”

The big picture: Perna added that the government is on track to distribute about 20 million doses of the newly approved Moderna vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to states by the first week of January.

He said 2.9 million Pfizer-BioNTech doses have already been delivered.

Go deeper: States brace for budget cuts in order to distribute COVID-19 vaccines

Add Axios on Google

General apologizes for "miscommunication" over vaccine shipments

What to read next