Biden to talk vaccination strategy with bipartisan governors

President Biden on Tuesday will meet virtually with a group of bipartisan governors to discuss COVID-19 vaccination strategies as the nation moves into a new phase in its campaign to get shots in arms.

Biden will speak with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R), Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D), Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R), Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) to hear about “innovative ways governors are working to get people in their states vaccinated,” the White House said.

“The bipartisan group will share with the president some best practices on promoting access to vaccination, building confidence in vaccines and ensuring that everyone is reached in the vaccine response,” press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.

“He will also acknowledge the instrumental role Democrats, Republicans and independents have played in the vaccination efforts thus far, including helping deliver 220 million shots in the first 100 days of his presidency,” Psaki added.

Biden will also look ahead to how states can help the administration reach its stated goal of having 70 percent of adult Americans receive at least one coronavirus vaccine dose and having 160 million fully vaccinated by the Fourth of July.

The outreach to governors comes one week after the Biden administration told states that if they do not order their full allocation of weekly vaccine doses moving forward, the extra doses will be reallocated to states in need of additional shots.

States previously ordered doses from the federal government and were able to carry over unordered shots if demand ticked up. But the new policy means the unordered doses will go into a pool of vaccines for the federal government to send to areas where demand outnumbers supply. The change comes as the nation has seen a downturn in vaccination rates.

States will still be able to increase their order from week to week, according to the official, meaning governors will be able to adjust if they see vaccine demand rise.

The U.S. has seen its vaccination rate decline in recent weeks as those most eager to get the shot have already gotten it. The country is administering roughly 2 million doses per day on average, down from 3.4 million per day on average as of April 13.