As interest in vaccine flags, Romney demands 'comprehensive' federal plan

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney this week called for a "comprehensive vaccination plan" to ensure widespread COVID-19 vaccine distribution across the country, even as interest in obtaining the vaccine has dropped notably among Americans in recent months.

In a statement on his Senate website, Romney claims that the United States' vaccine rollout plan "is falling behind."

"It was unrealistic to assume that the health care workers already overburdened with Covid care could take on a massive vaccination program," he argues. "So too is the claim that CVS and Walgreens will save the day: they don't have excess personnel available to inoculate millions of Americans. Nor are they equipped to deal with the rare but serious reactions which may occur."

"That comprehensive vaccination plans have not been developed at the federal level and sent to the states as models is as incomprehensible as it is inexcusable," the statement continues, calling on the federal government to enlist "veterinarians, combat medics and corpsmen, medical students, EMS professionals, first responders, and many others" to help administer the drugs nationwide.

Romney's demands come as interest nationwide in obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine has fallen to notable lows.

A Just the News poll in December found that a majority of Americans currently plan to either delay getting the vaccine or not obtain it at all.

California health experts, meanwhile, revealed this week that "between April 1-14 and November 25-December 8, the percentage [of survey respondents] who stated they were somewhat or very likely to get vaccinated declined from 74% to 56%."