White House promises states additional increase in COVID-19 vaccine doses

The federal government is increasing the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses from 11 million to 13.5 million, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced today.

The tally is 57% higher than the dose volumes states had received at the beginning of the year.

The federal government is also beginning to prioritize sending vaccines to pharmacies. Some 2 million vaccine doses will be sent to pharmacies this week.

The bipartisan National Governors Association recently asked President Biden for improved coordination of vaccine shipments.

Biden at a CNN town hall tonight in Milwaukee promised 400 million doses available to Americans by the end of May — and 600 million by the end of July.

Biden had promised to administer 100 million vaccine doses in his first 100 million days in office. The current rate has exceeded that and is hovering around 1.72 million doses.

One recent hurdle to vaccine administration, however, has been inclement weather in much of the U.S., requiring vaccination sites in sites ranging from Indiana to Texas to close.