This news regarding Pfizer and the Trump Administration is not shocking in sense that they seem to never get supply chain, surge or details. But there is no crying in vaccine distribution. Some thoughts on how this impacts the supply chain. 1/ https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1336062026515410946

As noted in @theatlantic, this is all really complicated and these blips and delays are rough but not shocking. Manufacturing can be ramped up, but this is Biden's obligation to figure out surge capacity since we know Trump doesn't do that. 2/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/12/moral-imperative-get-vaccination-done-quickly/617310/

Here is an explanation of how the Defense Production Act can be used ensure distribution surge starting Day One. Not just the vaccine, but needles, syringes, etc. I'm not trying to forgive Trump for this move, but we move on. Aren't you over him? I am. 3/ https://twitter.com/juliettekayyem/status/1335982783823540225

Some mitigation: 1)Pfizer's yield and volume is likely to improve and are likely to have excess over their immediate commitments. We also can find a way to get more doses from Pfizer, and so I take some of this news with a little bit of jadedness regarding negotiations; 4/

2)We do have a deal with Moderna for 100 million doses and can probably still buy more; 3)the old school subunit vaccines are coming soon enough, easy to manufacture, normal cold chain, may even be one dose (great). Given how well the mRNA vaccines work, these should too. 5/

There are other vaccine choices likely to be on market as well (adenovirus vaccines). 4)And so so sadly, we are getting natural herd immunity (I feel sick writing this) but it is a factor in supply. 6/

Anyway, I'm hardly pollyannish. These are delays that are often part of major distribution efforts, but fundamentals still hold: we have a vaccine, at least two, that work. The rest is details, which are complex but can also be solved with time and professionals. 7/7