Gov. Jay Inslee says Washington’s allocation of the COVID-19 vaccine will be cut by 40% next week - and other states including Oregon are also seeing reductions.
In a Tweet Thursday, the Democrat said the Centers for Disease Control told Washington about the reduced shipments.
“This is disruptive and frustrating. We need accurate, predictable numbers to plan and ensure on-the-ground success,” Inslee wrote. “No explanation was given.”
.@CDCgov has informed us that WA’s vaccine allocation will be cut by 40 percent next week — and that all states are seeing similar cuts.
— Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) December 17, 2020
This is disruptive and frustrating. We need accurate, predictable numbers to plan and ensure on-the-ground success.
No explanation was given.
Authorities in Washington began vaccinating front-line health care workers this week. Officials had expected to receive another 74,100 doses of the Pfizer vaccine next week and 85,800 the week of Dec. 29. Washington now expects to receive about 45,000 doses next week.
Michele Roberts, one of the leaders of the Washington state Department of Health vaccine planning group, had said about 31,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have arrived in the state, and another 31,000 were expected this week.
Dr. Dakotah Lane, a member of the Lummi Nation, right, receives a COVID-19 vaccination from registered nurse Alyssa Lane, his cousin, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020, at the Chinook Clinic on the Lummi Reservation, near Bellingham, Wash. The Native American tribe began rationing its first 300 doses of vaccine as it fights surging cases with a shelter-in-place order.
Elaine Thompson / AP
If the Food and Drug Administration authorizes Moderna’s vaccine by Friday, officials expect nearly 184,000 doses of that version to arrive in Washington between next week and the end of the year.
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States was in Washington in January. The state also saw the nation’s first deadly outbreak at a nursing home, at the LifeCare Center of Kirkland. Since the start of the pandemic there have been about 216,000 confirmed cases in Washington and more than 3,000 deaths.