Army Gen. Gustave Perna, the member of Operation Warp Speed responsible for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, apologized on Saturday for the "miscommunication" with states over the number of doses they will receive next week, AP reports.
Why it matters: The general's apology comes after multiple governors said they were told that their states would receive between 25%-40% fewer vaccine doses than originally projected.
What he's saying: “I want to take personal responsibility for the miscommunication,” Perna said, per AP.
- “I know that’s not done much these days. But I am responsible. ... This is a herculean effort and we are not perfect," Perna added.
- "I am the one who approved forecast sheets. I’m the one who approved allocations."
- “There is no problem with the process. There is no problem with the Pfizer vaccine. There is no problem with the Moderna vaccine.”
The big picture: Perna added that the government is on track to distribute about 20 million doses of the newly approved Moderna vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to states by the first week of January.
- He said 2.9 million Pfizer-BioNTech doses have already been delivered.
Go deeper: States brace for budget cuts in order to distribute COVID-19 vaccines
