Delivering Vaccines to Americans: Cause for Alarm?

Jennifer Kates and Josh Michaud, Kaiser Family Foundation, joined us to discuss their new analysis, ‘Distributing a Covid-19 Vaccine Across the United States – A Look at Key Issues.’ Getting vaccines to Americans is an unprecedented, gargantuan, complex enterprise. Just how ready are we? Financing thus far is a meager $200 million, while an estimated $6-10 billion will be required. Local public health infrastructure is rickety, insurance gaps are many, and building trust and engagement, especially with Black, Latinx and Native American populations remain essential challenges. Some states have identified early phase, prioritized recipients with some precision. Others lag behind. How to manage this enterprise amid deep partisan divisions, the winter surge, our national electoral process? How to judge the performance thus far of Operation Warp Speed? Give a listen!

Jennifer Kates and Josh Michaud are with the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington D.C.. Jennifer is the Senior Vice President and Director of Global Health and HIV Policy, Josh the Associate Director of Global Health Policy.