Washington, D.C. – Today, 116 bipartisan mayors sent a letter to the Biden administration, urging it to provide COVID-19 vaccines directly to cities and fully utilize the Defense Production Act to sustain the production and stockpiling of virus testing, treatment, and vaccine supplies. The letter comes in response to the ongoing limited availability of vaccines nationwide and the increasing racial equity gap in vaccine distribution.

The letter, in part, reads, “City governments understand our communities and our local infrastructure best and therefore can most nimbly identify community assets, deploy municipal services, and draw on local expertise to vaccinate residents equitably and efficiently. We see and do not accept the troubling pattern emerging nationwide showing that people of color and vulnerable populations do not have sufficient access to the vaccine.”

The full text of the letter can be found here and below:

Dear President Biden,

On behalf of the nation’s mayors, we thank you for your Administration’s efforts to increase the supply of COVID-19 vaccines and testing to ensure our cities can recover from the COVID-19 public health emergency.

However, we need two additional federal actions in order to improve equitable vaccination efforts: First, we need to be able to maximize the potential of local governments, and second, we need significantly more vaccine supply.

Maximizing Local Governments: We ask that you provide vaccines directly to cities nationwide, and ensure states do not interfere with our allocations. City governments understand our communities and our local infrastructure best and therefore can most nimbly identify community assets, deploy municipal services, and draw on local expertise to vaccinate residents equitably and efficiently. We see and do not accept the troubling pattern emerging nationwide showing that people of color and vulnerable populations do not have sufficient access to the vaccine. Many of those people live in cities—and as mayors of those cities, for the sake of our most marginalized constituents, we ask that you provide us direct allocation with true local control so that we can increase the efficiency and equity of vaccine distribution.

Furthermore, the magnitude of the need for vital protective equipment and supplies in cities large and small across our nation continues to be a concern. We commend your successful efforts thus far, and urge you to fully utilize the Defense Production Act to rapidly and continuously increase the production and stockpiling of supplies critical to COVID-19 testing, treatment, and vaccine administration.

The nation’s mayors stand ready to work closely with you to implement a comprehensive national strategy for a successful and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.