As the U.S. kicks off a historical COVID-19 vaccination campaign, HHS secretary, Alex Azar, said every nursing home resident could be vaccinated by Christmas, reports CBS News.
"The vaccines are going out," Mr. Azar told CBS. "As soon as they receive the vaccine, this is according to governors telling us to ship to them, we can have every nursing home patient vaccinated in the U.S. by Christmas. It's really a remarkable prospect for all of us who have loved ones in nursing homes that we may approach Christmas with that level of comfort …"
However, CVS and Walgreens, charged with administering the vaccine to nursing home residents, were instructed by HHS to wait until Dec. 21 to begin inoculating this group. CBS obtained Operation Warp Speed documents confirming the instruction to hold off, though Mr. Azar denied issuing the delay and called it a "misunderstanding" that has been cleared up.
Families of nursing home residents must provide consent in order for them to be vaccinated, a likely reason for the delay, Scott Gottlieb, MD, former FDA commissioner, told CBS. Dr. Gottlieb called it a "costly delay," adding that vaccination consent should have been organized ahead of time in order to start vaccinating the vulnerable population as soon as possible.
On the morning of Dec. 14, some long-term care facilities in New Jersey were again asked to hold off on vaccinating residents until Dec. 21.