Lame duck president Donald Trump’s latest claim was that he would ensure 20 million Americans would be vaccinated by the end of the year, but records show his Operation Warp Speed will fall far short of that number.
According to numerous sources including the Associated Press, less than three million Americans will be vaccinated through today.
In September, Trump claimed that he would ensure 100 million people would be vaccinated by the end of the year. He altered that to 20 million after vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna received emergency approval.
Trump has dumped the responsibility for vaccinate people to the states and even to individual health systems, who are scrambling to find the resources to distribute, store and administer the vaccines.
“There’s a lot states still need to do,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, a health policy researcher and dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, “but you need a much more active role from the federal government than what they have been willing to do. They’ve largely said to states, ‘This is your responsibility. Figure it out.’”