The following statement can be attributed to Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association.
Michigan hospitals have been working around the clock to vaccinate more than 243,000 Michiganders for weeks, all while calling for clear and consistent communication from the federal government. The Washington Post article published today stating that U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) began releasing vaccine reserves several weeks ago, prior and in contradiction to their announcement this week that those reserves would be made available now, is extremely troubling. If true, it is a total failure of operational management and communication at the federal level. We call on HHS to immediately clarify what vaccines are available now, and what will be available in the coming days and weeks, so that our hospitals can plan accordingly.