Officials Expects To See More COVID-19 Vaccine Doses In Oklahoma Soon

In a change of direction, Oklahoma will now receive more COVID-19 vaccines from the second doses held back by Operation Warp Speed.

"While they announced giving us the second doses, they announced of in a couple of weeks, they are going to change the way they allocate vaccinations based on burn rate," said Keith Reed, the deputy health commissioner. 

Since the beginning, every time a vaccine was sent out, a second dose was held in storage. Now, every vaccine will be sent out all at once.

"If you think of it, if we are allocated 48,000 doses for this week at this point, they were holding out another 48,000 in reserve," said Reed.

Another large change comes to the number of vaccines coming to the state. It is now going to be dependent on how quickly the state can administer them.

"What I want to do is I want to maximize that. As a state, we want to maximize that," said Reed. "Therefore, we want to make sure we are pushing the vaccine out as quickly as possible."

But there are still issues to work out, including how Oklahomans can get the second dose on time.

"If it is delayed by a few days, that does not decrease the efficacy of the vaccine. It is just going to delay when you get full protection," said Reed. "We have been assured if we are moving vaccine in that manner, they will continue to supply us to meet our needs for the second dose. That requires a little faith in the program."

The state is still awaiting more guidance from the government on these new allocation methods. They also said the change in administration could impact vaccine distribution.