The big picture: States have been warning for months that they don’t have the resources to pull off the ideal vaccination effort, but additional federal money only started flowing to states a few days ago, after President Trump signed the coronavirus relief package that Congress has been fighting over since the summer.

Initial vaccine doses went mostly to frontline health care workers, meaning that administration of the shots was largely the responsibility of the same hospitals that are overwhelmed by a flood of coronavirus patients.

Another few million doses are slotted for nursing home residents and staff, the vast majority of which haven’t yet been administered.

And on top of all that, the vaccine rollout coincided with Christmas and New Years, further slowing down the process.