Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that it is a “real problem” people in his congressional district can not get vaccinated for monkeypox due to shortages.
Partial transcript as follows:
MARGARET BRENNAN: Before I go further on January 6, I do want to quickly just button up what Dr. Jha addressed in regard to that letter you wrote this week in regard to monkeypox. You said the federal response falls short in terms of supply and timeliness regarding a vaccine. The current supply accounts for only three and a half million residents. Some shipments are not even expected to arrive until 2023. Why do you think the federal response is failing when Dr. Jha says it’s contained and under control?
SCHIFF: I don’t know why there aren’t more vaccines available. I’m hearing from health care providers in my district that there are people lining up to get vaccinated, and they don’t have the vaccines for them, and that is a real problem. As I think you indicated, we really don’t know the future course of this virus. But what we do now, early on, just as was the case with the pandemic, will determine just how bad this may get. And so I want to light a fire under the administration and get them to make sure that we up production, that we up distribution and that people that are ready and willing and able to get vaccinated have the ability to protect themselves.
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