Washington to receive 29,250 fewer doses of the COVID-19 vaccine than expected

The Washington Department of Health (DOH) was contacted by Operation Warp Speed on Thursday evening and told that Washington’s Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine allocation for the week of December 21 would be 44,850 doses rather than the 74,100 doses they were expecting.

“We were not given an explanation as to why our allocation was reduced, and we do not currently have allocation numbers beyond next week,” reported the DOH.

So far, 31,200 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have already arrived in Washington. 29,250 additional doses are expected later this week

• See also: 
  • Everything you need to know about the COVID-19 vaccine in the US
  • Washington State is expecting another delivery of COVID-19 vaccines this week
  • Washington may begin administering COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday

As of December 18, over 1,000 vaccinations have been administered to high-risk health workers as well as staff and residents of long-term care facilities.

The DOH expects that it will take until around mid-to-late January to finish vaccinating these groups in order to begin offering the vaccine to the next eligible groups.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is a two-dose vaccine given 21 days apart. Clinical trial data show that the vaccine is 95% effective at preventing the COVID-19 infection starting seven days after the second dose. Individuals will not be considered fully protected until one to two weeks after they receive the second dose.

Pharmaceutical company Moderna submitted a EUA application on November 30, which has not yet been granted. Once approved by the Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, around 183,800 doses of the Moderna vaccine should arrive by the end of December.