Biden COVID-19 adviser: It will be ‘months’ before all who want vaccine get it

A White House COVID-19 adviser on Wednesday said that it will be “months” before all Americans who want a coronavirus vaccine can get one, a much more pessimistic message than the one delivered by President Biden.

“We are taking action to increase supply and increase capacity. But even so, it will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one,” Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to the White House COVID-19 Response Team, said during a briefing.

The briefing with the White House COVID strategists, conducted via Zoom, was the first of what administration officials have promised to be regular occurrences.

Slavitt added that there is a difference between vaccines produced and vaccines administered, and the administration is working to bridge that gap.

Changes in expectations: Slavitt’s comments are markedly different from remarks Biden gave Monday when he said he thinks any American who wants a COVID-19 vaccine should be able to get one by spring. “It’s going to be a logistical challenge that exceeds anything we’ve ever tried in this country, but I think we can do that,” Biden said during a press conference.

Biden added that he hoped the U.S. could be vaccinating 1.5 million people per day in the coming weeks.

But ever since those comments, the White House has been working to temper expectations.