Expanding Vaccine Access: Washington, D.C.

On Tuesday, December 13th, Axios hosted an Expert Voices roundtable discussion in Washington DC with local leaders from healthcare, policy and research institutions. Guests shared their views on expanding access to vaccines in America as healthcare providers continue to administer the latest COVID boosters and flu vaccines to the public. Axios Senior Healthcare Editor Adriel Bettelheim and Axios Pro Healthcare Policy Reporter Maya Goldman led the conversation.

Concerns about access to vaccines after the public health emergency is over

Participants will share insights around key concerns regarding vaccine access, equity, and distribution efforts after the public health emergency ends and federal funding for vaccination is reduced or exhausted Did.

• Jennifer Cates, senior vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, said: “If those two things happened, we wouldn’t run out of supplies and create a public health emergency. … It is the uninsured who will have the problem, and the underinsured, because they are not guaranteed access to vaccines as they are now. , we need to think seriously about access and its impact.”
• said Victoria Cargill, Senior Director of Health Equity at the Milken Institute. “I want you to remember that when these programs end there is a price … when I am talking about individuals with invisible tendencies, their challenges of having access to vaccines and not having them, I We are very concerned that reservoirs of infection that perpetuate infection may be eliminated.”
• Julie Morita, executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said: “If there is a problem with the vaccine, the public health emergency will end, the federal government will run out of funding, and the already widening disparities will be exacerbated. We can see that we are approaching where we were before in terms of inclusion.

On notable issues in the long-term vaccination process

During the discussion, participants raised concerns about vaccine uptake and public health over the long term, including the problem of waste in distributing immunizations to children and the need for better non-paper ways to track immunization status. highlighted the problems seen in the immunization process that affect the goals of vaccine card.

• Lynn Goldman, Michael and Lori Milken Deans of Public Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, GWU: “Everything else is electronic [vaccine card]So why are we tracking important information whether someone is up to date on COVID [vaccinations] Something like this? ”

• Sylvia Taylor, Novavax: “It’s not over yet. We know there are disparities in vaccine access and in people who get vaccinated for a variety of reasons. Keeping up is what we need to do to make sure that we can actually declare victory over the pandemic at some point.
• Nathaniel Beers, Executive Vice President, Community and Population Health, Children’s National Hospital: “The American Academy of Pediatrics has had many conversations with the administration about the fact that the majority of pediatricians are not in a position to provide COVID vaccines because of the waste they experience with current formulations. Without the change that individual dose formulations exist, it will be nearly impossible for most pediatricians to fit into that system.”

Thanks to Novavax for sponsoring this event.