In vaccination push, supply lags demand
Eligibility is expanding, but Connecticut hospitals haven’t been getting enough doses
Connecticut hospitals have received significantly fewer COVID-19 vaccine doses than they have requested in recent weeks, stressing their supply and limiting how many shots they can administer, officials say.
Lack of vaccine supply at the national level remains the largest hurdle to the dramatic ramp-up in vaccine distribution that Connecticut and other states hope to pull off in the coming weeks and months. The issue has gained urgency as Connecticut has moved into Phase 1B of its vaccination process, which includes more than half the state’s adults.
President-elect Joe Biden said Friday he will use the Defense Production Act to increase vaccine production, while Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have promised to manufacture doses quicker than they originally planned, but it may take some time before Connecticut’s weekly allotment of 46,000 first doses increases substantially.
With more than a million residents now part of Connecticut’s expanded Phase 1B, including nearly 300,000 individuals 75 and older who are now eligible for vaccination, providers hope shipments will increase. If the state continues to receive 46,000 first doses a week, it will
likely take more than a month just to administer a first dose to everyone age 75 and older who wants one.
Dr. Deidre Gifford, acting commissioner of the Department of Public Health, said that the state hopes for more doses soon “as new [vaccines] get approved and as the existing manufacturers are able to ramp up production.” Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine has so far performed well in trials, but approval is not expected imminently.
For now, vaccine providers are stretched. Hartford HealthCare, for example, received only about 20% of its requested first-doses this past week after receiving about half its requested order the week before, said Eric Arlia, senior system director of pharmacy. The system maintained its vaccination pace thanks to supply built up from previous weeks but now finds itself stretched thin.
“We had enough with a small order this week to support all the clinics in Hartford HealthCare,” Arlia said. “We’re hoping we get a bigger allocation of dose one next week so that we can continue our clinic schedule at our current pace, especially as we get ready for Phase 1B.”
Dr. Tom Balcezak, chief clinical officer for Yale New Haven Health, said his system has received about 7,000 vaccine doses each of the past two weeks, short of the 10,000 it requested but expects to receive more than 14,000 this week.
“It’s never enough. We could have vaccinated more,” Balcezak said.
Connecticut has had relative success in its vaccine rollout, ranking among the leaders nationally in the share of its population that has received at least one dose. Still, lack of supply limits just how fast the state can move.
The state had appeared in line for a boost in vaccine supply when the Trump administration announced last week it would release all available doses, as opposed to holding second doses in reserve, following a commitment from the incoming Biden administration to do the same. However, the Washington Post reported Friday that there are no doses currently in reserve, meaning states would not receive any extra allotment.
Connecticut will receive a one-time boost this week, via an additional 50,000 doses sent as a reward for the state’s relative fast pace in vaccine administration, but hospital officials say they need increased supply on a more consistent basis.
The more doses Connecticut receives, they say, the more quickly they’ll be able to vaccinate state residents.
“Our rate-limiting step will be, at least for the short term, the number of vaccines we get,” said Dr. James Cardon, chief integration officer at Hartford HealthCare. “We will continue to scale up.”
Arlia said he wasn’t surprised to have received a smaller shipment than usual last week. Hartford HealthCare coordinates closely with DPH and had indicated that the system could manage with relatively few additional doses, thanks to leftover supply from previous shipments.
Still, Arlia said, Hartford HealthCare would ideally receive enough vaccine doses for every clinic to fill all its time slots, plus several days of backup in case of a shipping delay or unexpected surge in demand. Instead, the system has used much of its backup supply, creating a potential shortage in the near future.
Another small allocation, Arlia said, would mean canceling existing vaccine appointments.
“If that happens next week, we would not get through,” he said. “I have high hopes we’ll get a bigger order next week.”
Arlia said Hartford HealthCare has received its full requested allotment of second doses, allowing it to follow up on time with patients who have already received their first shot.
Dr. Syed Hussain, chief medical officer at Trinity Health of New England, said his system, like the others, received fewer doses than it has requested but has managed its allocation without issue.
Arlia, Balcezak and Hussain all emphasized that they have no complaints about DPH and understand the need to allocate vaccines across many providers. Balcezak said he was glad the state has prioritized getting doses to nursing home residents, who officials say have now all been offered their first dose.
DPH is responsible for distributing vaccine doses not only to hospitals across the state but also to local health departments and anyone else who might be administering them. Some local health departments have received hundreds of doses and launched wide vaccination efforts, while others had received few or no doses as of last week.