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Operation Warp Speed's chief scientific adviser conceded Monday that there has been a “lag” in the administration of coronavirus vaccines, but defended the federal government's handling of their distribution. Moncef Slaoui initially said on CNN’s “New Day” that “nothing has gone wrong” in the vaccination process. “What we had committed to is to have 20 million doses of vaccine available for the American people to be immunized,” he added. (Budryk, 1/4)

Operation Warp Speed chief adviser Moncef Slaoui tells CNN that vaccinating 20 million people against Covid-19 was a "hope" and not a promise. (1/4)

Providence Hospital System has defied the country’s slow rollout trend and has given the first dose of the vaccine to more than half of its 120,000 employees in 51 hospitals across seven states. Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips, chief clinical officer for Providence, told “The News with Shepard Smith” that “planning is the antidote to panic.” She said that Providence began strategizing in September to identify caregivers with the highest risk and how to integrate technology like emails and texts to streamline the rollout process. (DeCiccio, 1/4)

The European Commission defended its coronavirus vaccination strategy Monday amid growing criticism in member states about the slow rollout of COVID-19 shots across the region of 450 million inhabitants. Vaccinations programs in the 27 nation-bloc have gotten off to a slow start and some EU members have been quick to blame the EU’s executive arm for a perceived failure of delivering the right amount of doses. In Finland, health authorities are reportedly unhappy that the country only received about 40,000 doses in December, instead of the 300,000 that were expected. (Petrequin, 1/4)

France’s cautious approach to rolling out a coronavirus vaccination program appears to have backfired, leaving barely 500 people inoculated in the first week and rekindling anger over the government’s handling of the pandemic. Amid public outcry, the health minister vowed Monday to step up the pace, and made a belated public plea on behalf of the vaccine, saying it offers a “chance” for France and the world to vanquish a pandemic that has killed more than 1.8 million people. President Emmanuel Macron was holding a special meeting with top government officials Monday to address the vaccine strategy and other virus developments. (Charlton, 1/4)

A majority of Canadians should be vaccinated against the coronavirus by September 2021, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. But with the current pace of the country’s vaccination distribution, experts warn provinces may not be able to reach the target anytime soon. “Canada is definitely having a slower start,” said Kerry Bowman, a professor of bioethics and global health at the University of Toronto. “And each day and week goes by, we run the great risk of falling further and further behind.“ (Dangerfield, 1/4)