The Trump administration announced the new guidelines, first reported by Axios, at a press conference Jan. 12 with officials from Operation Warp Speed.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar said states are being told to immediately expand vaccine eligibility to those 65 and older as well as people under 65 with comorbid conditions. He said vaccine doses will be released based on each state’s pace of administration and the size of their population age 65 and older.
The new guidelines will also expand the venues where people can get vaccinated and get all available doses distributed now instead of holding back doses for the second shot.
The new guidelines are similar to steps some states have already taken to accelerate the vaccination process. President-elect Joe Biden said his administration will not hold back COVID-19 vaccine doses and would release those needed for people’s second shots. The president-elect is expected to release more details on the vaccine distribution plan Jan. 14, according to Politico.
As of Jan. 11 at 8 a.m. CST, nearly 9 million people had received shots of Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines, according to CNBC. The federal government had initially estimated that 20 million shots would be given by the end of last month.
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