Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, on Friday said most states in America are struggling to manage a slow Covid-19 vaccine rollout due to lack of information and financial support.

Osterholm said states have not been given adequate information or resources needed to plan for vaccinations hence the inability to access the Covid-19 vaccine by those who are eligible for it.

According to the CDC, more than 12 million Americans have been vaccinated for COVID-19, as of Jan. 19 while the number of doses distributed by the CDC’s count is 31.1 million.

CDC

“We have no clue often just how much is coming and when, and so that makes it very difficult to plan for these clinics,” he said.
“And then once it’s out here, basically that is up to the states, who have had very little support financially to hire additional people to develop the kind of electronic record systems that can make it so that people aren’t being frustrated by software programs not working, telephone lines not working,” he added.

It’s not just the states that have been left in the dark, said Osterholm, who served as a member of President Joe Biden’s transition coronavirus advisory board.

“I can just say that having been part of the team that we never saw a plan that was written in even one page of a plan that came from the Trump administration about this,” he said. “That’s not a partisan comment. That’s just the truth.”

According to the CDC, more than 12 million Americans have been vaccinated for COVID-19, as of Jan. 19 while the number of doses distributed by the CDC’s count is 31.1 million.