WASHINGTON — States will see another increase in the COVID-19 vaccine doses they receive, with the Biden administration announcing Tuesday that the federal government will distribute 11 million doses next week.
That’s an increase from 10.5 million doses this week, and 8.6 million during the week President Joe Biden took office last month. Those increases were attributed to boosted production by vaccine manufacturers.
The administration has not published a state-by-state breakdown on how many doses are distributed each week. Iowa Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley, both Republicans, have questioned whether Iowa is receiving a fair share of doses under that formula, and wrote to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday, asking CDC officials to release the weekly formula for allocating vaccines to states.
The administration’s COVID-19 task force also announced that beginning next week, community health centers across the country will begin receiving vaccine doses directly. At least one center in each state will begin receiving COVID-19 shots, with the initial phase expected to include 250 centers nationally. Georgia is home to nearly three dozen such facilities, technically known as Federally Qualified Health Centers.
Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, the director of Biden’s COVID-19 health equity task force, said those centers provide care in many underserved areas, and using those facilities to boost vaccinations will help to improve equitable access to vaccines.
“The tools that we are deploying at the federal level are meant to aid state and local leaders, but are in no way a substitute for the important work that they must lead on the ground to address equity,” Nunez-Smith said.
