Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Congress will receive an additional 8,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday to be equally divided for staffers in the House and Senate, Axios has learned from sources who are familiar.
Why it matters: Members of Congress were eligible for coronavirus inoculations as early as January, but just a small portion of their staff qualified to receive them at the time. Now, the circle is expanding, a move to restoring legislative operations to pre-pandemic norms.
By the numbers: Both Republican and Democratic members of the House will receive six doses per office.
- House committees will receive an additional 16 doses to be distributed equally among the staff for their Republican and Democratic members.
- Axios could not immediately obtain specific plans for the Senate's use of its doses.
Flashback: As Axios reported Sunday, "Uncertainty about why only 75% of the House is confirmed as vaccinated against the coronavirus is fueling a debate about when the chamber can return to its normal rules of operation."