Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, acknowledged the COVID-19 vaccine will still not be widely available by late February.
She made her remarks in a Thursday interview on NBC’s “Today Show.”
Host Savannah Guthrie had noted that former Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar had predicted last month that vaccines would be widely available by late February or early March.
But Walensky said: "We are going to, as part of our plan, put the vaccine in pharmacies. Will it be in every pharmacy in this country by that timeline? I don't think so. I don't think by late February, we're going to have vaccines in every pharmacy in this country."
However, she maintained the Joe Biden administration is determined to meet its goal of 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses given in 100 days.
"After 100 days, there are still a lot of Americans who need vaccine, so we have our pedal to the metal to make sure that we can get as much vaccine out there," she said. "We recognize this is the most immediate emergency to get this country back to health."
Walensky said the work to meet the 100-day goal "had already begun."
She said the plan is to make sure vaccine eligibility meets supply. In addition, officials want to make certain that there are enough vaccinators and that vaccine sites are "diverse so that we can get to all people."
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said Biden’s promise of delivering 100 million doses of the vaccine in 100 days is “absolutely a doable thing.”
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