In the first Operation Warp Speed briefing of 2021, U.S. health officials discussed the current progress on COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the government will begin allowing more drugstores to start giving shots to speed coronavirus vaccinations.
Officials said having 20 million doses of the vaccine available for jurisdictions to order by the end of 2020 was a historic achievement.
This week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services allocated another 4.1 million doses for jurisdictions to order.
State data shows 439,502 doses administered out of 1,333,450 doses shipped in Texas.
However, during Wednesday morning's news conference, federal officials went on to say the ultimate goal is not to house vaccines in warehouses and freezers but rather in people's arms.
The U.S. Health officials said they expect vaccination distribution to ramp up in the coming weeks but they can't sit and wait.
Officials said they've been evaluating the challenges faced thus far and are taking immediate action by an early launch of the federal arraignment pharmacy partnership.
This partnership will eventually cover more than 40,000 pharmacy locations from 19 chains and associations throughout the country, such as Walgreens and CVS.
"This partnership allows states to allocate vaccines directly to these partners," Health Secretary Alex Azar said.
This will allow partners to administer the vaccine to particular groups, such as those over a certain age or in specific occupations.
Azar said the plan was to originally roll out the plan over time but an early launch will give states as many options as possible to administer the COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccine partners will be able to provide rapid access and settings that are more convenient and efficient compared to hospitals, Azar said.
The program is expected to launch this week, Azar said.
Thousands of pharmacies have already been enrolled in the program, according to officials. The CDC is also sending states guidance on how best to use this partnership, Azar said.
Azar also went on to say states can accelerate vaccine administration by moving on to providing vaccines to broader populations right now.
He stressed that vaccines should not remain in the fridge or vile but rather administered to all at-risk people.
Azar said if health workers aren’t lining up fast enough, it’s OK to mix in other priority groups, and urged governors to make that clear.
The drugstore program is in addition to work by CVS and Walgreens to vaccinate nursing home residents and staff. Azar says eventually more than 40,000 pharmacy locations will be involved.
Federal health officials also said they remain optimistic that if positive data comes back from the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine by February, this could help save more lives during the ongoing pandemic.
In North Texas, hospitalizations have reached a record high.
A Texas Health spokesperson confirmed to WFAA Tuesday night a refrigerated mobile morgue has been deployed to Texas Health Fort Worth in response to the rising number of COVID-19 deaths in Tarrant County.
"Sadly, these mobile morgues are in use," the spokesperson wrote. "The stark reality of this situation simply underscores how serious the COVID-19 pandemic is in North Texas. We cannot emphasize enough how this is a team effort — our caregivers will continue to fight on the front line, but we need North Texans to work with us to slow the transmission of the virus by wearing masks, washing their hands, maintaining social distance and avoiding large crowds."
Texas Health Resources also announced it will postpone all outpatient elective and non-essential surgeries and procedures.
The pause at its "14 wholly-owned hospitals" is because the group is dealing with such a high number of COVID-19 patients. The disease is causing "a severe stress on inpatient and emergency department bed capacity and staffing resources," according to the spokesperson.
"Our inventory of PPE and ventilators is strong. We’re mainly concerned about our supply of healthcare workers and the many months of stressful work they’ve endured in the care of these patients," spokesperson Amanda Huffman said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.