Freezing temperatures, snow, and ice were blamed for a 6 million dose backlog in the nation’s coronavirus vaccine response on Friday, even as President Biden flew into Michigan to highlight efforts to bring the pandemic under control.
He toured Pfizer’s vaccine manufacturing plant in Kalamazoo in a trip itself delayed by the bad weather that has battered much of the United States this week.
And he urged people to back his $1.9 trillion relief plan as he touted progress in tackling the pandemic.
“We’re now at a point where you’ve seen the average daily number of people vaccinated nearly double from the week before I took office to about 1.7 million average per day getting a shot. We’re on track to surpass my commitment,” he said, referring to his target of administering 100 million doses in his first 100 days.
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But the impact of a bitterly cold snap was on show in Kalamazoo, where the presidential motorcade was led by a snowplow.
Winter storms elsewhere forced vaccination sites to close across the country, from Texas to the East Coast.
Video of @POTUS en route to the Pfizer plant. I can’t help but notice that a plow truck is leading out the Presidential motorcade… only in Michigan.@wxyzdetroit pic.twitter.com/k4eenzU0fr
— Brett Kast WXYZ (@brettkast) February 19, 2021
In a briefing earlier, White House coronavirus response adviser Andy Slavitt said about three days of vaccines were caught in delays.
“As of now, we have a backlog of about 6 million doses due to the weather,” he said. “All 50 states have been impacted.”
For now, he added that the backlog is being safely stored in warehouses and will be distributed in the next few days.
Press secretary Jen Psaki said the goal was to catch up next week.
“We anticipate we can not only get the backlog out but we can stay on pace with what we are planning to distribute to states next week,” she told reporters traveling with the president aboard Air Force One.
At the Pfizer factory, CEO Albert Bourla said the drugmaker was on course to more than double the 5 million doses produced each week.
Biden was making his second visit of the week to a battleground Midwest state, following his trip to Wisconsin on Tuesday. The two states helped him secure the White House in November and will be key targets for Democrats in next year’s midterm elections.
The president used his Friday trip to appeal directly to the people, whose reluctance to get vaccinated is in danger of slowing progress to herd immunity.
“But if there’s one message to cut through to everyone in this country is this: The vaccines are safe,” Biden said. “Please, for yourself, your family, your community, this country, take the vaccine when it’s your turn and available. That’s how to beat this pandemic.”
He also tried to sell his immense relief package, taking on critics who have balked at its cost.
He asked: “Should we not invest $20 billion to vaccinate the nation? Should we not invest $290 million to extend unemployment insurance for the 11 million Americans who are unemployed so they can get by?”
For all the optimism embodied by Pfizer’s gleaming plant, he ended the speech on a cautious note, admitting that it is impossible to say when the pandemic will be tamed.
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“I believe we will be approaching normalcy by the end of the year,” he told reporters as he left. “God willing, this Christmas will be different than the last. But I can’t make that commitment to you.”
