The United States is out of money to buy a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine, Biden administration officials said Monday.
"Right now, we don't have enough money for fourth doses, if they're called for," the Washington Post reported White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients saying in an upcoming podcast recorded Monday. "We don't have the funding if we were to need a variant-specific vaccine in the future."
While the administration of President Joe Biden has secured enough doses to give a fourth shot to Americans over age 65 and an initial treatment for children aged 5 and under, there is not enough money left in the federal coffers to buy more for the rest of the country, if needed, three officials told the publication.
Money that was slated for ordering the additional vaccines is part of a currently stalled $15 billion bill in Congress that would buy tests, therapeutics, and vaccines.
On March 15, the Post reported that Republicans on the hill were "reluctant" to pass the additional spending even as current funds are set to run out in early April.
"We don't have enough vaccine for a fourth booster dose for everybody. If we need a variant-specific vaccine, we don't have it," a senior administration official said in a separate interview, listing other expected shortages he told the Post in an article from last week. "This is real. It's very important that people understand the implications of not providing additional funds."
Republicans, instead, would like to see already approved COVID-19 relief spending "clawed back" from states to cover the new costs, while Democrats see the bill's new spending as "desperately" needed.
"I don't know, I hope we do, we desperately need this," Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., the chamber's majority whip, told the Post when asked if there is a path to prompt passage. "If a new variant emerges, and is deadly, we're going to wish we put the money in to pay for it."
According to the article, the spending was initially part of the recently passed $1.5 trillion omnibus package to fund the government through the end of the year but had to be removed to get the bipartisan support needed to pass the legislation, which also included aid to Ukraine amid Russia's invasion.
"Our leverage here was with the [omnibus bill], and I'm worried we're going to have a hard time," Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the leader of the left-leaning Congressional Progressive Caucus, said during an interview last week.
As the impasse continues, officials are worried that the U.S. will lose its place in line to order new doses.
"Vaccines don't just appear when you snap your fingers and say, OK, I want the vaccine. We've got to make it," a senior administration official told the Post Monday. "And this year, it's going to be more complicated, because there's a very significant chance — although we're still waiting for data — that the vaccines are going to need to be tweaked to cover omicron."
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