Feb 19, 2021 - Health

White House says vaccine weather delays will be resolved by next week

Marisa Fernandez

Vehicles are at a standstill southbound on Interstate Highway 35 on February 18, 2021 in Killeen, Texas. — Vehicles are at a standstill southbound on Interstate Highway 35 in Killeen, Texas. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The extreme winter weather this week delayed the delivery of 6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, but the logistical hurdles are expected to be resolved by next week, the White House coronavirus task force said Friday.

The big picture: Transporters like FedEx, UPS and McKesson and others have faced challenges in all 50 states as the storms snowed in workers and forced roads to be closed. More than 2,000 vaccine sites experienced power outages and were rendered unable to receive doses due to fears of spoilage.

The state of play: 1.4 million doses are in transit as of Friday. The White House said deliveries will continue throughout the weekend and into the beginning of the week.

What they're saying: "Whatever reduction we see in our seven-day average this week in vaccinations from the weather, if we all work together from the factory all the way to the vaccinators, we will make up for it in the coming weeks," White House adviser on the COVID-19 response team Andy Slavitt said.

The big picture: More than 40 million people have received at least one vaccine dose so far.

The U.S. is currently administering 1.7 million doses a day, and has a supply of 10 to 15 million doses a week.
Eventually, with supplies steadily increasing through the summer, enough vaccine should be available to administer 4.5 million doses a day.

Go deeper: U.S. on pace to meet Biden's goal 0f 100 million doses in 100 days

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White House says vaccine weather delays will be resolved by next week

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