1. Get the money flowing

All the way back in September, CDC Director Robert Redfield testified in Congress that “the time is now” to get billions of dollars for coronavirus vaccine distribution out to states.

But that didn’t happen, and public health officials say the delay in federal funding is in part to blame for the slow start of the vaccination campaign. This week, the federal government announced that some of the nearly $9 billion included in the December COVID-19 relief package is on its way to states.

“We are looking forward to getting that money, which will be critical for several aspects of our response,” Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania’s secretary of health and president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials told NPR in a press briefing. She says the money will be used to contract companies to run community vaccination clinics and execute on a vaccine public awareness campaign.