Sen. Tina Smith Urges Biden Administration To Ensure Free COVID Vaccine For All
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Democratic Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith is calling on the Biden administration to make sure the COVID-19 vaccine is free for all.
In a letter released Thursday, Smith pressed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to work in tandem with Congress to help Americans, especially those without health insurance and on Medicaid, to not be charged for the vaccine and its administration.
Smith introduced the COVID-19 Treatment Coverage Act, which she says will lead to the guarantee that "no American falls through the cracks," before COVID vaccines were rolled out. Her bill also would give states the ability to expand Medicaid to pay for future vaccinations for uninsured citizens.
One of the last orders from the Trump administration was to open up vaccine availability to educators, childcare workers and adults 65 and older. That led to an increase of about one million eligible Minnesotans, despite an insufficient supply of vaccine in the state.
The Minnesota Department of Health introduced its vaccine pilot program website on Tuesday, which was plagued by technical difficulties as the site peaked at 10,000 hits a second. Appointments for both doses of the vaccine were quickly filled, with 6,000 set aside for Minnesotans 65 and older and another 6,000 for educators and childcare workers.
President Biden signed a flurry of executive orders on his first day in office Wednesday, including 10 that aim to ratchet up the battle against the pandemic.