The head of the Food and Drug Administration is pushing states to allow low-priority demographics to receive the coronavirus vaccine if the doses would be wasted otherwise, The Hill reports.
Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the FDA, said at an event on Friday that ''it’s reasonable'' to provide access to groups outside the ones the agency currently recommends vaccinating first if the alternative is allowing doses to go unused.
''I would strongly encourage that we move forward with giving states the opportunity to be more expansive in who they can give the vaccine to," Hahn said during an event for the Alliance for Health Policy.
He added that while governors have the final say, he does recommend that they rely on "a data- and science-driven approach to this."
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar earlier this week advised governors to focus on getting as many people vaccinated as possible, ''especially vulnerable populations,'' even if some healthcare workers have yet to receive one.
"Right now, there is no reason that states need to complete, say, vaccinating all healthcare providers, before opening up vaccinations to older Americans or other, especially vulnerable populations," Azar said on Wednesday.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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