Oklahoma no longer accepting full federal vaccine allocation

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma health officials are no longer accepting the state’s full allocation of coronavirus vaccines as demand has dropped, Deputy Commissioner of Health Keith Reed said Tuesday.

“The allocation would exceed 200,000 a week … I don’t have the exact numbers that we are accepting into the system right now, but it’s more in the tens of thousands versus the hundreds of thousands,” Reed said.

States have been allocated doses based on population. However, the White House has announced that when states decline the vaccine they are allocated, that surplus will shift to states still awaiting doses to meet demand.

Oklahoma holds about 500,000 doses in reserve should demand rise, according to Reed, who said the number of daily vaccinations has declined from about 28,000 a month ago to 10,000-11,000.

More than 2.7 million vaccinations have been administered in Oklahoma, and more than 1.5 million people (50.5% of the population) have received at least one dose, Reed said.

The state’s COVID-19 emergency declaration was ended Tuesday by Gov. Kevin Stitt, who said Oklahoma’s seven-day average of new cases is down 94% from its peak and that hospitalizations are down 90% and have stabilized.