Government Matters: Anita Patel

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Over 750 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been distributed across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That’s just two years after a Covid-19 task force was created to plan its rollout. Dr. Anita Patel, former senior advisor for pandemic preparedness and response at the CDC and finalist for a Service to America medal, designed and oversaw the distribution plan.

  • Patel said public-private partnerships were the biggest component of the response, involving the federal government, state and local health departments, pharmacies, data experts and distribution and logistics partners.
  • As the largest vaccine distribution campaign in federal history, it was a complicated, very large-scale mission, said Patel.
  • She said some of the priorities included making sure they had the right people in place and ensuring they could remove barriers to access.