Dr. Danny Avula
Virginia public health officials said Saturday that the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses sent to the state is likely to decrease — possibly by a significant amount — because the federal government does not have the reserve of doses it had said were being held back for second shots.
Dr. Danny Avula, the state’s vaccine coordinator, said it is not clear how large the decrease will be in coming weeks. “We really don’t know exactly what to make of it,” he said, in part because federal officials, including Alex Azar, the Trump administration’s health and human services secretary, had said just days ago that the government would begin releasing doses. “There’s definitely no planning three weeks from now,” Avula added. Complicating matters is the transition of the presidency next week, which will bring in new officials to oversee federal vaccine distribution.
Last week, Virginia received 106,000 doses for first shots and about 61,000 doses for second shots, which come through different routes from the federal government. The two vaccines currently available require two shots for full inoculation.
