United States won't hold back second Covid vaccine doses: health secretary

The CDC notes that as of Tuesday, just 9 million of the 25 million doses of coronavirus vaccine that were sent to states have been administered, with most states still focused on vaccinating essential workers and those over the age of 75.

The guidelines are meant to widen the pool of people who can receive the vaccine.

Public health officials say the pace is picking up somewhat - nearly 9 million people have received their first dose according to CDC data - but experts say the pace needs to increase and that state and local jurisdictions need more resources and support to resolve the bottleneck. "We've had so much success with quality and predictable manufacturing and nearly flawless distribution of the vaccine, but we have seen now that the administration in the states has been too narrowly focused", he said on "Good Morning America". The government has also been holding back about half the available vaccine to guarantee a second shot for people who'd already gotten the first dose of the two-shot vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna.

Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the CDC, told Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear earlier this week that while the agency wants states to follow the CDC's recommendations, they are not required to.

"I think trying to get as many people as we can vaccinated even if it is not full immunity is one of the ideas to help reduce the risk to a larger percentage of the population", said Davis. President-elect Joe Biden said that when he took office all available doses would be released to ensure the maximum number of Americans had some form of protection from COVID. The official expects reserved doses to be distributed over the next two weeks.