How some states are administering Covid-19 vaccines at twice the speed of others - CNN

However, nine states have managed to administer more than half of the doses they've received: North Dakota, West Virginia, South Dakota, Connecticut, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Colorado and Montana, as well as Washington, DC.

According to Bookman, all vaccine providers in the state must administer doses they've received within 72 hours.

We felt like that, from a state perspective, would be limiting our ability to rapidly distribute and administer the vaccine to the population in need if we had gone with the federal program," he said.

By acting independently, West Virginia started vaccinating in long-term care facilities about a week before other states started.

The state also broke from federal guidance on groups prioritized to receive the vaccine first, emphasizing speed over specifics.

"There's a real sleeping giant that is a problem, and that is one thing alone: we, as other states, are going to mound an inventory beyond belief because everybody is trying to devise a program on how to administer vaccines," Justice told CNN.

The same is true in South Dakota, where a few large health systems cover much of the population.

"They have strong relationships with providers that cannot be replicated in larger states," she said.

In anticipation of Covid-19 vaccine emergency use authorization, Monument Health in South Dakota started to build databases of individuals under their care that would be eligible to receive the vaccine and proactively reach out to them, Dr.

"The department of health and how well they've communicated when vaccine will be available, three health systems in the state makes it a lot simpler logistically, and the third factor is key: Even with just three systems, we took it upon ourselves to make it a mission to administer doses within a week of when we get them."