On November 16, the second vaccine candidate to demonstrate efficacy against COVID-19 was announced – yet another positive signal in the fight against the virus.
By Chris O'Brien, Nini Donovan, Hillary Thompson, and Jordan Reisner, Guidehouse
On November 16, the second vaccine candidate to demonstrate efficacy against COVID-19 was announced – yet another positive signal in the fight against the virus.
The question is: Are state and local governments prepared for effective vaccine deployment?
The answer to this question is urgently needed as the US continues to hit record coronavirus counts – around 150,000 new cases daily – and Americans increasingly experience pandemic fatigue and depression.
The good news is that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that four vaccines have begun large-scale (Phase 3) clinical trials in the US. With first doses expected before the end of 2020, devising a COVID-19 vaccination program is now more important than ever.
On October 29, the CDC released an interim playbook for jurisdiction operations that mandates a centralized system to order, distribute, and track COVID-19 vaccines. The federal government will act as the central distributor. Vaccine providers will place all orders through the CDC, and in coordination with the Department of Defense and manufacturers, the orders will be fulfilled.
However, besides being vested with the broad authority of distributing vaccines to end-user sites in an equitable manner, state and local governments have a far less clear role.
It’s not just a challenge of coordinating resources, but also managing people.
State and local governments need efforts in place to navigate program management, recovery planning and strategy, resilience assessment, and execution of recovery operations. Despite the ambiguity of the present circumstances, Guidehouse’s extensive expertise in this area informs five key considerations for state and local governments in rolling out the vaccine effectively.
So, what’s next for state and local entities?
An event with this level of complexity and urgency requires innovative, collaborative, and rapid responses to plan, execute, evaluate, and adjust effectively.
To learn more about the CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Program Interim Playbook and Guidehouse’s five considerations for state and local governments, download our Guide to COVID-19 Vaccination Deployment for State and Local Governments.