Trump officers focus on vaccine adoption as criticism mounts

[The stream is slated to start at 12:00 p.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.]

Department of Health and Human Services and Pentagon officials will hold a joint briefing Wednesday on the Trump administration’s Operation Trump Warp Speed ​​Covid-19 vaccination program.

The briefing comes as the government faces criticism of what appears to be a slower than expected introduction of the vaccines.

As of Monday morning, more than 11.4 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna two-dose vaccines had been distributed across the country, but only about 2.1 million doses were given to people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s a far cry from US health officials’ original goal of getting at least 20 million Americans their first shots before the end of the year.

However, the CDC acknowledged delays in their vaccine data from the states and jurisdictions it collects and reports to federal officials, among other things.

“A large difference between the number of doses distributed and the number of doses administered is expected at this point in the COVID vaccination program due to several factors,” the agency said.

President-elect Joe Biden and public health specialists have criticized Trump’s vaccination program in recent days for failing to deliver doses as quickly as they were being distributed.

Read CNBC’s live updates for the latest news on the Covid-19 outbreak.