New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a ceremony. | Frank Franklin II, File/AP Photo
ALBANY — The Trump administration is firing back at the National Governors Association — and its chair, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — after the group’s leaders urged federal officials to better communicate with states about their responsibilities for a forthcoming Covid-19 vaccination program.
Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Douglas L. Hoelscher sent a letter on behalf of Trump and in collaboration with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Friday refuting claims by Cuomo and the NGA‘s vice chair, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, that there has not been enough guidance or clarification for governors to navigate potential vaccine procedures.
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The letter points to “Operation Warp Speed” — the Trump administration’s efforts to procure and distribute a vaccine as quickly as possible — and more broadly asserts open communication with governors across the country through 39 governors-only briefings since January of this year.
A Sept. 9 briefing specifically previewed the administration’s 57-page “playbook” for a vaccination program, Hoelscher wrote, and governors of both parties were able to discuss their plans and ask questions. The playbook instructs individual jurisdictions to submit their plans to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by Oct. 16.
Hoelscher pointed out that Cuomo did not attend that briefing or several others where vaccination programs were being discussed.
“Governor Cuomo, given you have missed the last 17 governors-only briefings, including the September 9 briefing, enclosed is the September 9, 2020 readout we provided your staff and senior leadership team,” he wrote. “HHS stands ready to help you and your team with your planning efforts.”
Cuomo has preferred to communicate with the administration one-on-one throughout the pandemic; he says he speaks to Trump by phone often and has traveled to Washington multiple times through the spring and summer, though details of those meetings remain vague.
Hoelscher said HHS has been “impressed by months-long” collaboration between several states and federal officials and held up a plan submitted Thursday by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s administration as an example. Details of that plan were also enclosed in the letter.
Hoelscher said Azar and HHS officials have reached out to coordinate a meeting with Cuomo and Hutchinson, which the two governors requested on Thursday.
Cuomo has specifically said for several months that he will cut federal officials out of the process when it comes to distributing a vaccine to New Yorkers. Cuomo, a Democrat, said the vaccine process has become “politicized” and that people will refuse to get vaccinated because they don’t trust how the Trump administration has handled the pandemic.
But they do trust the way New York officials have responded to coronavirus, Cuomo said. In September, he announced a Vaccine Distribution and Implementation Task Force — composed of public health, immunization and government operations experts — to design a plan for how New York will distribute and administer vetted Covid-19 vaccines.
Federal officials push back on a characterization that New York is truly going it alone and say New York is already developing its protocol alongside administration appointees.
A senior administration official cited a meeting New York Health Commissioner Howard Zucker had with Operation Warp Speed Chief Science Adviser Dr. Moncef Slaoui and Chief Operating Officer Gen. Gus Perna while the two were in the Northeast for a visit to the McKesson Kitting Facility in Harrisburg, Pa.
“There are ongoing conversations and it’s clear there has already been robust conversation and collaboration between the federal effort and New York,” the official said.
Cuomo senior adviser Rich Azzopardi confirmed Friday that Cuomo has been uninterested in participating in the White House’s governors-only briefings.
”We learned early on that the White House calls were a total waste of time and nothing more than political propaganda, using elected officials as props to heap praise on the President and deny the virus' existence,” he said in a response to the HHS letter. “What the Governors of this nation actually require is a substantive operational discussion on policy and programming."
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October 17, 2020 at 01:12AM
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