White House official explains why states haven’t received promised number of vaccines
“We all made the error or mistake of assuming that vaccine that’s actually produced and being released is already available for shipment, when, in fact, there is a two-days lag between the time at which we generate a lot of data that shows this vaccine vial is actually safe and right and the time we can ship it,” Moncef Slaoui told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” when asked about the delay.
In his interview with Tapper, Slaoui said it was brave for Perna “to take this on him personally.”
Across the country, state leaders have called out the delay in receiving the vaccine.
In Illinois, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said on Wednesday that he is expecting the reduction in vaccine doses “will likely cut our state’s projected Pfizer shipments this month by roughly half.”
Slaoui told Tapper on Sunday that he believes this error has now been addressed.
“We are increasing the level of communication with the governors in order to make sure that, you know, there are no mistakes that happen or miscommunication,” he said.
This story has been updated with additional details Sunday.
CNN’s Ellie Kaufman, Sara Murray and Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.
