The CDC is distributing more than $3.1 billion in federal funding to help states and major cities administer COVID-19 vaccines, reports The Hill.
The agency said it would distribute funding from coronavirus relief legislation based on a state's population to prepare for mass vaccination campaigns set to begin this month, according to news releases sent to local media and cited by The Hill. President Joe Biden is slated to tell states April 6 to make all adults eligible for the vaccines by April 19, nearly two weeks ahead of the previous May 1 deadline.
The funding comes from grants approved under the American Rescue Plan, and range from $1.1 million to American Samoa and the Northern Marianas Islands to $357 million to California. Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas are each set to receive $100 million, reports The Hill. The money set aside by the American Rescue Plan to combat COVID-19 totals nearly $13.5 billion.
"Millions of Americans are getting vaccinated every day, but we need to ensure that we are reaching those communities hit hardest by this pandemic," Rochelle Walensky, MD, director of the CDC, said in a statement cited by The Hill. "This investment will support state and local health departments and community-based organizations as they work on the frontlines to increase vaccine access, acceptance and uptake."