With just more than 2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered so far, the U.S. likely won't hit its goal to administer initial vaccine doses to 20 million people by the end of the year, CNBC reports.
"Overall in the month of December between the two vaccines … we expect to have immunized 20 million of our American people and keeping 20 million doses for their second immunization a few weeks later," Moncef Slaoui, PhD, chief adviser of Operation Warp Speed told MSNBC Dec. 15.
On Dec. 30, Operation Warp Speed spokesperson Michael Pratt told CNBC the U.S. was still on track to meet its goal and attributed the low numbers to lags in data reporting.
As of Dec. 28, the CDC reported a gap between the 11.4 million vaccine doses distributed so far compared to the 2.1 million administered. The agency cited several reasons for the gap, including a lag in data reporting and the pending launch of the government's partnership with CVS and Walgreens, which will be charged with vaccinating long-term care facility residents.
An additional 15.7 million vaccine doses are scheduled to be shipped by the end of this week, with second doses expected to start being administered in January.
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