Polis "shocked we were lied to" following report that promised COVID-19 vaccine stockpile doesn't

Polis “shocked we were lied to” following report that promised COVID-19 vaccine stockpile doesn’t exist


Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday accused the federal government of lying and acting out of “gross incompetence” after learning that an expected increase in COVID-19 vaccine doses won’t be coming because the federal stockpile already had been used up.

“We were ready to deploy it right away, and now we know it simply doesn’t exist,” he said at a news conference Friday afternoon.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced earlier this week that the federal government would stop holding back doses in reserve. The idea of a reserve was to ensure that every person who got a first dose could get the second one required to complete the vaccine sequence in three to four weeks.

Some raised concerns that eliminating the stockpile could leave recipients with only partial protection if logistical problems arose, but governors — including Polis — greeted the news warmly and planned to speed up distribution to older residents.

Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2021/01/15/colorado-covid-vaccine-stockpile/