Why Our Vaccine Deployment is Shy of Target: State Responses to Vaccine Supply

February 4, 2021

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The journey to a post-COVID era is a difficult one. Although two promising vaccines are currently authorized for emergency use and more than 4.2 million people received the first of two required doses as of January 3, 2021, the United States fell short of its goal to inoculate 20 million front-line workers and seniors in December 2020. To add to the vaccine administration challenge, a more infectious mutation of COVID-19, named B.1.1.7, has been identified among positive cases in at least thirty-three countries around the world and at least eight states in the U.S. According to the CDC, there is no evidence to date to suggest that B.1.1.7 causes more severe illness or a higher risk of death than COVID-19. As the world remains uncertain about how the coronavirus pandemic will evolve, states and local entities have been working tirelessly to mitigate the spread of the virus, inoculate as many residents as quickly and safely as possible, and contend with this new virus mutation. This briefing explored their efforts. Attendees learned the challenges and opportunities states face in safe and timely vaccine deployment and supply management, and plans states are executing to ensure equitable vaccine distribution along the way.

Speakers

  • James S. Blumenstock, M.A., Senior Vice President, Pandemic Response and Recovery, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
  • Kate Johnson, MPH, Program Director, Healthcare Cost and Coverage, National Governors Association
  • Esther Krofah, MPP, Executive Director, FasterCures, a Center of the Milken Institute
  • Sarah J. Dash, MPH, President and CEO, Alliance for Health Policy (moderator)

This event is made possible with support from Arnold Ventures.

Event Resources

Key Resources

(listed chronologically, beginning with the most recent)

“COVID-19 Treatment and Vaccine Tracker.” Milken Institute FasterCures. January 31, 2021. Available at http://allh.us/c6wJ.

“U.S. COVID-19 Cases Caused by Variants.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. January 31, 2021. Available at http://allh.us/YWEx.

“Building Confidence to Build Immunity: Vaccine Hesitancy and COVID-19.” Alliance for Health Policy. January 29, 2021. Available at http://allh.us/KrXB.

“January 25 Coronavirus News” Gan, N., Renton, A., Mahmood, Z., et al. Cable News Network. January 26, 2021. Available at http://allh.us/hQME.

“From Bench to Body: How the U.S. Health Care System Plans to Distribute COVID-19 Vaccines.” Alliance for Health Policy. December 16, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/MNJt.

“Supporting An Equitable Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines.” National Governors Association. December 9, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/YpHC.

“State and Territorial Issue Brief: COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution and Implementation in States and Territories.” Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. November 2020. Available at http://allh.us/qnhJ.

Additional Resources

“As Virus Grows Stealthier, Vaccine Makers Reconsider Battle Plans.” Grady, D., Mandavilli, A., Thomas, K. The New York Times. January 25, 2021. Available at http://allh.us/6cp3.

“Why Vaccines Alone Will Not End The Pandemic.” Conlen, M., Lu, D., Glanz, J. The New York Times. January 24, 2021. Available at http://allh.us/TFWv.

“Vaccine Distribution at The State Level.” American Medical Association. January 21, 2021. Available at http://allh.us/jGhy.

“New York Seeks to Buy Vaccines Directly from Pfizer.” Carlton, J., West, M. The Wall Street Journal. January 19, 2021. Available at http://allh.us/XWM6.

“Why West Virginia’s Winning The Race To Get COVID-19 Vaccine Into Arms.” Noguchi, Y. National Public Radio. January 7, 2021. Available at: http://allh.us/MKPn.

“With Federal Guidance Evolving and Vaccine Supply Uncertain, State’s COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Plans Remain Works in Progress.” Cooper, R., Levisohn, A., Riley, T., et al. National Academy for State Health Policy. December 8, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/B8up.

“Information Systems And Data Flow For COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution And Administration.” National Governors Association. November 24, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/KMgm.


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Experts

Coverage

Joe Antos
American Enterprise Institute, Wilson H. Taylor Scholar in Health Care and Retirement Policy
jantos@aei.org

Craig Burns
America’s Health Insurance Plans’ Center for Policy and Research, Vice President of Research
cburns@ahip.org

Anshu Choudhri
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Executive Director
anshuman.choudhri@bcbsa.com

Sara R. Collins
The Commonwealth Fund, Vice President of Health Care Coverage and Access
src@cmwf.org

Sabrina Corlette
Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms, Co-Director
sabrina.corlette@georgetown.edu

Julie Goon
Anthem, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs
julie.goon@anthem.com

Larry Levitt
Kaiser Family Foundation, Executive Vice President for Health Policy
llevitt@kff.org

Ira Loss
Washington Analysis LLC, Senior Health Care Analyst
iloss@washingtonanalysis.com

Mark Miller
Arnold Ventures, Executive Vice President of Health Care
MMiller@arnoldfoundation.org

Lori Shoaf
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Managing Director of Federal Relations
Lori.Shoaf@bcbsa.com

Josh Seidman
Avalere, Managing Director
jseidman@avalere.com

Christen Linke Young
Brookings, USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy Fellow
CYoung@brookings.edu

Lauren Vela
Pacific Business Group on Health, Senior Director, Member Value
lvela@pbgh.org


Federal, State, and Local Governments Response

Adriane Casalotti
National Association of County and City Health Officials, Chief of Government and Public Affairs
acasalotti@naccho.org

Rhea Farberman
Trust for America’s Health, Director of Strategic Communications and Policy Research
rfarberman@tfah.org

Heidi Furness
Leavitt Partners, Director of Administrative Services
heidi.furness@leavittpartners.com

Claire Hannan
Association of Immunization Managers, Executive Director
channan@immunizationmanagers.org

Kate Johnson
National Governors Association, Program Director, Healthcare Cost and Coverage
KJohnson@nga.org

Rebecca Katz
Georgetown University, Professor, Director of the Center for Global Health Security
Rebecca.Katz@georgetown.edu

Michael Leavitt
Leavitt Partners, Founder
Contact: Heidi Furness, heidi.furness@leavittpartners.com

John O’Brien  
South Capitol, Partner
jobrien@southcapitol.com 

Carolyn Mullen
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Relations
cmullen@astho.org

Rachel Nuzum
The Commonwealth Fund, Vice President of Federal and State Health Policy
rn@cmwf.org

Andrew M. Rosenberg
Thorn Run Partners, Partner and Co-Founder
arosenberg@thornrun.com

Billy Wynne
Wynne Health Group, Chairman
billy@wynnehealth.com

Jeff Wu
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, Deputy Director
Jeff.Wu@cms.hhs.gov


Treatment and Care Delivery

Asaf Bitton
Ariadne Labs, Executive Director
abitton@ariadnelabs.org

Ellen Bubak
Ascension, Operations Chief of Staff
ellen.bubak@ascension.org

Mary Cappabianca
The Permanente Medical Group, Senior Communications Consultant
mary.cappabianca@kp.org

Sean Cavanaugh
Aledade Inc., Chief Administrative Officer
sean@aledade.com

Carolina DeFlilippo
CareMount Medical, Assistant Medical Director
cdefilip@caremount.com

Nancy Foster
American Hospital Association, Vice President for Quality and Patient Safety Policy
nfoster@aha.org

Mark Howell
American Hospital Association, Senior Associate Director for Policy
mhowell@aha.org

Charley John
Walgreens, Director, U.S. Public Policy
charley.john@walgreens.com

R. Shawn Martin
American Academy of Family Physicians, Senior Vice President, Advocacy, Practice Advancement and Policy
smartin@aafp.org

Janis M. Orlowski
Association of American Medical Colleges, Chief Health Care Officer
jorlowski@aamc.org

Stephen Parodi
The Permanente Medical Group, Executive Vice President of External Affairs, Communications, and Brand
Contact: Mary Cappabianca, mary.cappabianca@kp.org

Erin Richardson
Federation of American Hospitals, Vice President and Associate General Counsel
erichardson@fah.org

Eric Schneider
The Commonwealth Fund, Senior Vice President for Policy and Research
es@cmwf.org

Melissa Schulman
CVS Health, Senior Vice President Government and Public Affairs
Melissa.schulman@cvshealth.com

Richard Stone
Veterans Health Administration, Executive in Charge
Contact: Alan Greilsamer, Alan.Greilsamer@va.gov


Testing and Surveillance

Rudolf Blankart
University of Bern Center of Competence for Public Management (KPM), Professor of Regulatory Affairs
Rudolf.Blankart@kpm.unibe.ch

James S. Blumenstock
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, Chief Program Officer for Health Security
jblumenstock@astho.org

Joseph N.S. Eisenberg
University of Michigan School of Public Health, John G. Searle Endowed Chair and Professor of Epidemiology
jnse@umich.edu

Shreya Kangovi
University of Pennsylvania Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, Senior Fellow
kangovi@upenn.edu

Aaron Miri
The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School and UT Health Austin, Chief Information Officer
aaron.miri@austin.utexas.edu

Anand Parekh
Bipartisan Policy Center, Chief Medical Advisor
aparekh@bipartisanpolicy.org

K.J. Seung
Partners in Health Massachusetts COVID-19 Response, Chief of Strategy and Policy
kjseung@pih.org

Angela Shen
U.S. Public Health Service, Captain (ret), Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Vaccine Education Center, Visiting Scientist
angela.k.shen@gmail.com

Reed Tuckson
Tuckson Health Connections, Managing Director
drreed@tucksonhealthconnections.com


Workforce

Patricia Pittman
George Washington University, Milken Institute School of Public Health, Fitzhugh Mullan Professor of Health Workforce Equity
ppittman@gwu.edu


Supply Chain

Erin Fox
University of Utah Health Drug Information and Support Services, Senior Pharmacy Director
erin.fox@hsc.utah.edu

Christopher Bouquet
Bouquet Law Office, Attorney
cbouquet@bouquetlawoffice.com

Rena Conti
Boston University Institute for Health System Innovation and Policy, Associate Research Director of Biopharma and Public Policy
rconti@bu.edu

Thomas Cosgrove
Covington, Partner
tcosgrove@cov.com

Licy Do Canto
APCO Worldwide, Managing Director
ldocanto@apcoworldwide.com

Erin Fox
University of Utah Health Drug Information and Support Services, Senior Pharmacy Director
erin.fox@hsc.utah.edu

Dan Kistner
Vizient, Inc., Group Senior Vice President of Pharmacy Solutions
Daniel.kistner@vizientinc.com

Nicolette Louissaint
Healthcare Ready, Executive Director
nlouissaint@healthcareready.org

Steven Lucio
Vizient Inc., Vice President of the Center for Pharmacy Practice Excellence
steven.lucio@vizientinc.com


Epidemiology

Bethanne Fox
The Commonwealth Fund, Vice President of Outreach and Strategy
bf@cmwf.org

Lisa Kim
Stanford University, Media Relations Specialist
likim@stanfordhealthcare.org

David Radley
The Commonwealth Fund, Senior Scientist of Tracking Health System Performance
Contact: Bethanne Fox, bf@cmwf.org

Nirav Shah
Stanford University, Adjunct Professor
Contact: Lisa Kim, likim@stanfordhealthcare.org

Kathleen Winter
University of Kentucky, Assistant Professor for the Department of Epidemiology
kathleen.winter@uky.edu


Older Adults

Edo Banach
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, President and CEO
ebanach@nhpco.org

Robin Caruso
CareMore Health, Chief Togetherness Officer
Robin.caruso@caremore.com

Daniel Davis
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Policy Analyst at the Administration for Community Living
Daniel.Davis@acl.hhs.gov

Richard Feifer
Genesis Physician Services, President
Richard.Feifer@GenesisHCC.com

Terry Fulmer
The John A. Hartford Foundation, President
Contact: Marcus Escobedo, marcus.escobedo@johnahartford.org

Lisa Grabert
Marquette University, Professor of Research
lisa.grabert@gmail.com

Vicki Gottlich
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Director of the Center for Policy and Evaluation
Vicki.gottlich@acl.gov

Vincent Mor
Brown University School of Public Health, Florence Pirce Grant University Professor at the Department of Health Services
Vincent_Mor@brown.edu

Matt Pantell
University of California San Francisco, Assistant Professor
Matt.Pantell@ucsf.edu

Tanya Shah
The Commonwealth Fund, Vice President of Delivery System Reform
tbs@cmwf.org

Alison Silvers
Center to Advance Palliative Care, Vice President of Payment and Policy
allison.silvers@mssm.edu

Alissa Wassung
God’s Love We Deliver, Director of Policy and Planning
awassung@glwd.org


Rural Health

Michael Brumage
Cabin Creek Health Systems, Medical Director
michaelbrumage@me.com

J. Scott Graham
Three Rivers Hospital, Chief Executive Officer
jgraham@trhospital.net

June Sargent
A Healthier Rural West, Chief Impact Officer
june@ahealthierwe.org

Jacob C. Warren
Mercer University Center for Rural Health and Health Disparities, Director
warren_jc@mercer.edu


Treatment and Vaccine Deployment

Esther Krofah
FasterCures, Executive Director
ekrofah@milkeninstitute.org

Kenzie A. Cameron
Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Research Professor
k-cameron@northwestern.edu

Lisa A. Cooper
John Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor
Health.Equity@jhmi.edu

Mark McClellan
Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, Senior Fellow and Director
Contact: Suky Warner, suky.warner@duke.edu

Richard Moscicki
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Executive Vice President of Science and Regulatory Affairs
rmoscicki@phrma.org

Jewel Mullen
The University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical School, Associate Dean for Health Equity
jewel.mullen@austin.utexas.edu

Anne Pritchett
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Senior Vice President of Policy and Research
apritchett@phrma.org

L.J. Tan
Immunization Action Coalition, Chief Strategy Officer
lj.tan@immunize.org

Hemi Tewarson
Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, Visiting Senior Policy Fellow
hemi.tewarson@duke.edu

Transcript