Question: There have been a spate of stories about declines in states’ vaccine allocation requests, but the stories typically highlight just a few states and offer numbers sparingly. Is there a data source to track all states and their vaccine allocation requests in order to see and understand trends?
Answer: To my knowledge, there is no publicly accessible website that includes state allocation request information, but there’s plenty of related information available. Here’s an overview of the available data, data sources, and a brief description of the vaccine allocation/distribution process. Nationally, daily doses administered have been on a downward trend since mid-April, but the picture varies by state. Additionally, there’s still much to do to reach folks where they are! For many states, it’s time for a shift in vaccine administration tactics– far more community outreach, mobile clinics, door-to-door efforts, and the like (more to be said there, but it’s a post unto itself).
Available Vaccine Allocation/Distribution/Administration Data
- State-level time-trends in vaccine administration: The Washington Post provides open-access data on state-level time-trends in vaccine administration, which is updated daily using CDC data (Figure 1).
- Federal-level trends in vaccine allocation: CDC provides national and state-level data on vaccine allocations by vaccine type (Pfizer, Moderna, J&J). I grabbed data on Pfizer allocations to look at trends over time. As you can see in Figure 2, Pfizer vaccination allocations made a massive jump from 2/14 to 2/21 and continued on an upward trend until peaking on 28 March. Since 18 April, vaccine allocations have remained consistent week-to-week.
- State-level trends in population covered: Bloomberg News offers a global vaccination tracker with interactive charts, including a couple that pull CDC data to show, for example a) state-level time trends in population fully vaccinated; and b) percent of total vaccination supply used.
- Two more relevant links: CDC’s charts of total vaccines delivered/administered by state/territory and CDC’s COVID Data Tracker
Vaccine Allocation/Distribution Process (condensed from CDC’s description)
- After vaccines are manufactured, specific amounts of COVID-19 vaccine doses are made available (allocated) to states and territories. Generally, allocation decisions are made based on the size of each state’s population ages 18+.
- Based on their allocation, states and territories place orders for their vaccine supply using CDC’s vaccine ordering system, Vaccine Tracking System (VTrckS). They can order as much as their full allocation or some smaller piece thereof, depending on projected needs.
- States and territories decide how to allocate their supply (e.g. how much goes to hospitals, pharmacies, etc) and vaccines are shipped to the providers identified by the state/territory.
Figure 1. Tennessee Vaccination Trends (from WaPo)
Figure 2: Weekly Pfizer Allocations by State (note: California, Florida, Texas, Alaska not shown) (data from CDC)
