Senior adviser to the White House Covid-19 Response Team Andy Slavitt is predicting it will take longer for the average American to access the vaccine than President Joe Biden expected.
“Right now, I want to level with the public that we are facing two constraining factors. The first is getting enough supply quickly enough, and the second is the ability to administer the vaccines quickly once they’re produced and sent out to the sites,” Slavitt said on Wednesday.
He added, “We are taking action to increase supply and increase capacity. But, even so, it will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one.”
Watch his remarks below:
WH COVID response team senior adviser Andy Slavitt:
— The Recount (@therecount) January 27, 2021
“Right now, I want to level with the public … it will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one.” pic.twitter.com/vWb6bYmKRy
Biden told reporters on Monday he predicts every American who wants a vaccine will be able to receive one by the spring, as IJR reported.
“I think it will be this spring. I think we’ll be able to do that this spring. But it’s going to be a logistical challenge that exceeds anything we’ve ever tried in this country. But I think we can do that,” he said.
The president continued, “I feel confident that by summer, we’re going to be well on our way to heading toward herd immunity and increasing the access for people who aren’t first on the list all the way going down to children… But I feel good about where we’re going, and I think we can get it done.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki seemed to walk back on Biden’s prediction during her briefing on Tuesday, as IJR reported.
“What the president’s goal is, is ensuring that there’s greater availability in the spring. He will push his team. He pushes his team on Covid, and updates on it, even when it’s a meeting about other issues. This is his focus every single day,” Psaki said.
She explained, “But the fact is, is every American is not going to be eligible this spring. We are going to continue to increase supply. That’s part of it. And he has said many, many times it’s going to take months and months for a broad swath of the population to be vaccinated.”
A senior administration official said on Tuesday the Biden administration is expected to purchase 200 million more COVID-19 vaccine doses.
