Biden plans coronavirus vaccination blitz after inauguration

The decision is part of an aggressive effort to "to ensure the Americans who need it most get it as soon as possible," the Biden transition team said. PHOTO: REUTERS

WASHINGTON (NYTIMES) - In a sharp break with the Trump administration, President-elect Joe Biden intends to release nearly all available doses of the coronavirus vaccine soon after he is inaugurated, rather than hold back millions of vials to guarantee second doses will be available.

The decision is part of an aggressive effort to "to ensure the Americans who need it most get it as soon as possible," the Biden transition team said Friday (Jan 8). The vaccination plan, to be formally unveiled next week, also will include federally run vaccination sites in places like high school gyms and sports stadiums, and mobile units to reach high-risk populations.

The president-elect has vowed to get "at least 100 million Covid-19 vaccine shots into the arms of the American people" during his first 100 days in office.

The decision to release the vast majority of vaccine doses set off a sharp debate among public health experts. The two vaccines that have received emergency approval each require two doses, and the Trump administration has so far been holding back about half of its supply to ensure that booster doses will be available for those already inoculated.

Officials at Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration's vaccine program, had noted that doses would stop being sequestered after the first few weeks of rollout. But the announcement by the Biden administration sets the clearest bench mark yet for front-loading shots, then distributing them as they become available. And Warp Speed officials Friday were critical of the president-elect's decision.

The Food and Drug Administration - whose advice Biden has pledged to follow - has spoken out strongly against changing the dosing schedule, as some other countries have opted to do, calling such a move "premature and not rooted solidly in the available evidence". Some public health experts fear that second doses would be delayed by the decision.

But others called it a smart measure and said it was imperative to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible - so long as the second doses are not delayed. The Biden team said it was confident that the supply would be enough, and that Biden would invoke the Defense Production Act if necessary to bolster the supply of second doses.

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