WEBVTT - Hitting a Wall: Demand for Vaccines May Be Dropping

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<v Speaker 1>It's Thursday April. I'm Oscar Ramirez from the Daily Dive

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<v Speaker 1>podcast in Los Angeles, and this is Reopening America. We

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<v Speaker 1>might be hitting another snag in the vaccine rollout, too

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<v Speaker 1>much vaccine. Some states are starting to see the supply

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<v Speaker 1>of doses exceed the demand. The pace of vaccinations has

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<v Speaker 1>flattened out at about three million per day. The states

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<v Speaker 1>are starting to see too many open vaccine appointments. Rachel Rubin,

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<v Speaker 1>health reporter at Politico, joins us for how the strategy

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<v Speaker 1>is changing to get more people vaccinated. Thanks for joining us, Rachel, Hi,

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<v Speaker 1>thanks for happy all right, So we're starting to run

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<v Speaker 1>into another problem when it comes to vaccines now. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>after a lot of states have really expanded their tears,

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<v Speaker 1>everybody's more eligible to go and get those vaccines. We're

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<v Speaker 1>starting to run in the problem where states are having

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<v Speaker 1>too many vaccine doses. The demand is not as high

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<v Speaker 1>as the supply that we once had at the beginning.

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<v Speaker 1>It's kind of the inverse of the whole thing now

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<v Speaker 1>and states are coming up with different ways of how

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<v Speaker 1>to get the word out that we still have the vaccines.

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<v Speaker 1>It's important to get it done and you should go

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<v Speaker 1>get it. So, Rachel, tell us a little bit about

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<v Speaker 1>what we're seeing. Yeah, exactly what you said. The supply

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<v Speaker 1>of COVID vaccines is now exceeding demand, both in rural

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<v Speaker 1>areas and big cities. And what was interesting was when

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<v Speaker 1>we were doing some reporting this week, we were talking

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<v Speaker 1>to state and local officials who all expected this to happen,

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<v Speaker 1>but it had actually happened earlier. In the quest of vaccinates,

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<v Speaker 1>we have been billion Americans, over three billion Americans, and

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<v Speaker 1>they thought so it is kind of a daring twist

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<v Speaker 1>after months of seeing kind of appointment websites crash and

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<v Speaker 1>seen and hearing anados of people waiting around at pharmacy

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<v Speaker 1>counter is hoping to get rest over doses, and now state, local,

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<v Speaker 1>and federal officials are really trying to make a twist

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<v Speaker 1>and meet people where they are. Yeah, and I think

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<v Speaker 1>that's really important, is you know, some of these pop

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<v Speaker 1>up clinics and whatnot so they can get it. And

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<v Speaker 1>you know, you've got to make it easier for people

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<v Speaker 1>to want to get that vaccine. And you know, we've

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<v Speaker 1>spoken a lot of on the podcast about vaccine hesitancy

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<v Speaker 1>for a number of reasons. Some of it is political

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<v Speaker 1>some people just don't trust the government. Other people don't

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<v Speaker 1>trust the you know, the pace of the vaccines were made,

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<v Speaker 1>but by and large, they've been very effective. They are safe,

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<v Speaker 1>and more people are getting it. I know a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of people were saying, well, I want to wait till

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<v Speaker 1>more people get it. We've reached that point now, you

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<v Speaker 1>know what I mean. So it's like, uh, it's hard

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<v Speaker 1>to figure out that new tactics. So this is exactly

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<v Speaker 1>what a lot of these states are are working towards

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<v Speaker 1>figuring out what that new campaign is and how to

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<v Speaker 1>do it. So what are some of the states doing

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<v Speaker 1>exactly you mentioned taking the vaccines to them, But what

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<v Speaker 1>else are we seeing out there? It's a good point.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, there are those people who are hesitant to

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<v Speaker 1>get a vaccine, but there are also millions of Americans

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<v Speaker 1>without the ability or kind of the motivation to get vaccinated.

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<v Speaker 1>So some of the things that my colleague Goldberg and

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<v Speaker 1>I heard about is in a peninsula in Alaska, emergency

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<v Speaker 1>medical Service personnel UM bringing the vaccine to kind of

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<v Speaker 1>any house or business with three or more people who

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<v Speaker 1>wants it. In New Orleans, we heard of the city

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<v Speaker 1>partnering with bar to do shots for shots promotion, so

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<v Speaker 1>giving out a different kind of shot after you get

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<v Speaker 1>the vaccine. We talked the officials in North Dakota who

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<v Speaker 1>were working on piloting pop up clinics at Walmart, and

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<v Speaker 1>we also heard more in Louisiana, and this was a

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<v Speaker 1>message that we heard from other local and state officials.

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<v Speaker 1>Was working on smaller scale events in neighborhoods, churches, and

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<v Speaker 1>community centers and working with kind of trusted community members

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<v Speaker 1>who can help spread the word such as physicians, providers,

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<v Speaker 1>primary care doctors, etcetera. I'm wondering if even as part

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<v Speaker 1>of the evolving strategy you need a roll in outreach

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<v Speaker 1>to those people that have already had COVID and you know,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe don't at the vaccine because they've already had it,

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<v Speaker 1>they already had the antibodies. You have to kind of

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<v Speaker 1>figure out who are the people that are no longer

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<v Speaker 1>getting the vaccines and kind of target them. So it's

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<v Speaker 1>a difficult challenge for sure. And what have a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of these states said when it comes at least to

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<v Speaker 1>the part of the Biden administration and figuring that out.

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<v Speaker 1>I saw from some of your reporting, you know, they

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<v Speaker 1>said you had a plan before. Now that the demand

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<v Speaker 1>is dropping, you need to figure out that new plan.

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<v Speaker 1>You need to target these new people in different ways. Governors, centers,

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<v Speaker 1>public health experts that we talked to said that the

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<v Speaker 1>White Health can't rely on the same strategy it used

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<v Speaker 1>when a supply was constrained, going back to trying to

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<v Speaker 1>meet people where they are having trusted messengers and fine

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<v Speaker 1>administrations so that they have put three billion dollars towards

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<v Speaker 1>investing in vaccine confidence and launch a new volunteer core.

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<v Speaker 1>My colleague San Goldberg talked to, for example, tender John Tester,

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<v Speaker 1>a Democrat from Montana, who said that, like testing, members

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<v Speaker 1>of the community play a big role here. He also

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<v Speaker 1>added that seem like the CDC to more explicitly link

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<v Speaker 1>vaccines to return to normal life, and the BIDO administration

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<v Speaker 1>school has been to return closer to normalcy by July four. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>we'll see what we can do. The pace of vaccinations

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<v Speaker 1>has flattened at about three million a day. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>we need to keep those numbers up and get more

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<v Speaker 1>people vaccinated so that we can get to that HERD

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<v Speaker 1>immunity and just like you said, open back up, get

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<v Speaker 1>back to normal. So we'll see if we can get there.

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<v Speaker 1>Rachel Rubin, healthy reporter at Politico, Thank you very much

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<v Speaker 1>for joining us, Thanks for having me. I'm Oscar Ramirez

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<v Speaker 1>and this has been reopening America. Don't forget effort today's

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<v Speaker 1>big news stories. You can check me out on the

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<v Speaker 1>Daily Dive podcast every Monday through Friday, So follow us

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