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Angus King: Supply Still Holding Up US Vaccination Efforts

Greg Nash
/
Pool via AP
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, walks on Capitol Hill during the fifth day of the second impeachment trial of former President Trump, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021 at the Capitol in Washington.

Defense Department officials went before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday to answer questions about the status of COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the nation. Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine focused his inquiry on the cause of bottlenecks in the system.

King says there are daily reports of local vaccination centers that are experiencing a shortage of doses. He says military officials running Operation Warp Speed indicate the problem lies in the fact that vaccine production has not met demand.

“There are no doses sitting somewhere in warehouse waiting to be distributed, it’s the supply at the very first stage,” he says.

King praised the military’s vaccine distribution effort, which he says has gone faster and more smoothly than many expected.

Journalist Mal Leary spearheads Maine Public's news coverage of politics and government and is based at the State House.