Louisiana has been told by the federal government to expect a flat amount of weekly vaccine allocations for the next four to five weeks, which means about 58,000 doses a week. Governor Edwards said state leaders were previously told that once vaccines became available there would be a steady increase.
“If you can go back and look at representations there were made in November and December we always believed there would be increasing allocations that is going to happen at some point, it just isn’t happening yet,” said Edwards.
State health officer Doctor Joe Kanter expects a big increase in vaccine supply once Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines are authorized by the F-D-A and become available.
Edwards said there’s currently not enough vaccine available, so there are no plans to expand the eligibility or hold mass vaccination events.
“No matter what model a state has implemented for vaccine distribution and administration, nobody can administer a vaccine dose they don’t have,” said Edwards.
Each state receives a percentage of doses based on its population that has been made available to the United States. Edwards said as far as he can tell, Louisiana is receiving its proper share.
“So I can only assume that the manufacturing coming out of Pfizer and out of Moderna that’s being made available to the United States is flat,” said Edwards.
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