Thread by @DrEricDing

⚠️CONCERNING—Millions of doses of #COVID19 vaccine shipped by Trump WH/HHS are missing. Nobody knows why yet. Biden coronavirus task force have spent first days in office working overtime to solve puzzle. So far, one hasn’t emerged. (by @ErinBanco) 🧵
thedailybeast.com/millions-of-co…

2) “According to data from CDC, 41.4 million doses have been handed out to the states. Only 21.8 mil have been administered. Bottom line: Doses should be flowing, they said But instead, states are complaining of vaccine shortages.”

3) COVID ACT NOW has just added a state by state vaccine tracker with shots delivered. Nobody sure why the big discrepancy in shipments vs shots administered. covidactnow.org/?s=1550490

4) “rechecked the numbers—local and federal data—to try to discover the cause. They looked at whether: manufactured to fill demand; where shipped and who had received it; how much was still sitting waiting to be administered; and how many doses were still sitting in warehouses.”

5) “They’ve still come up short, officials tell The Daily Beast, in part because the data sets they are working with are incomplete.”

6) “In the weeks leading up to the inauguration, officials working with Biden’s coronavirus transition task force assumed that the low vaccination rates were due in part to a lag in states reporting to the CDC.”

7) “They also calculated that some states were struggling to administer the vaccine efficiently because of staff shortages and, in some regions, because of a hesitancy among residents to sign up for the shot. But picture is even more muddled, and more complex, than they thought.”

8) “According to two officials working on Biden WH vaccine effort, some state officials, including in those states reporting vaccine shortages, have determined there might be additional doses in their jurisdiction—outside of their second-dose reserves— that are unaccounted for.”

9) “But those state officials do not know whether those doses are sitting in warehouses, freezers or in other distribution hubs, or whether been used but unreported. In other words, there could be perhaps millions of doses across the country missing in the distribution system”

10) “There could be a number of explanations to explain the discrepancies; some doses could have expired or been contaminated or otherwise destroyed, though those scenarios are rare.”

Read more by @ErinBanco - she’s dedicated to COVID reporting. thedailybeast.com/millions-of-co…

11) Remember when Trump HHS Sec Azar claimed they will be sending out reserves in mid Jan... only to realize they didn’t have any?!?! And that they were all gone by late Dec? But somehow HHS thought they still had more and promised to send? That was weird...

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1350099663618265089

12) when millions of vaccine doses go missing and unaccounted for... this is what happens... US is way below anticipated 20 million in first month

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1356416670751973377