Vaccine Reserve Was Already Exhausted

“When Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced this week that the federal government would begin releasing coronavirus vaccine doses held in reserve for second shots, no such reserve existed… The Trump administration had already begun shipping out what was available beginning at the end of December, taking second doses directly off the manufacturing line,” the Washington Post reports.

“Now, health officials across the country who had anticipated their extremely limited vaccine supply as much as doubling beginning next week are confronting the reality that their allocations will not immediately increase, dashing hopes of dramatically expanding eligibility for millions of elderly people and those with high-risk medical conditions.”