Colorado will receive nearly 30,000 fewer doses of the Pfizer vaccine next week than anticipated, Gov. Jared Polis said Friday.

The state had expected to receive 67,860 doses next week but now expects to receive only 39,780 doses, Polis said at an afternoon press conference with state health officials.

The latter number takes into account that each vial of the vaccine appears to contain six doses, one more dose than anticipated, Polis said.

“I really call upon the federal government to get the vaccines out — Pfizer said they’re sitting in a warehouse, awaiting shipping instructions,” Polis said. “The federal government needs to get them instructions today.”

It’s unknown whether the delay will last weeks or months, Polis said, adding that he’s unsure future weekly shipments will be reduced.

As a result of the shortage, some health care workers need to delay the receipt of their first vaccination by a week or two, Polis added.

The state is in discussion with other states, and every state it has been in contact with has had its number of vaccines expected for next week’s delivery revised downward similarly, Polis added.

Twenty five thousand of next week’s doses received are expected to be administered on site at skilled nursing facilities, and 14,000 of those doses will go to hospitals, Polis said, adding that the state still expects to receive 95,600 doses of the Moderna vaccine next week.

The state is experiencing a steady downward trend in new COVID cases “not commonly seen across the country right now,” state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy said, adding that the state has “bent the curve” following Thanksgiving and is “starting to see clear improvements” in hospitalizations, in contrast with an increasing national trend of hospitalizations.

On Friday the state saw 3,693 new positive cases, and COVID deaths totaled 3,321; 1,403 were hospitalized, Polis said.

The state’s positivity rate is dropping, he added. On Friday, it sat just above 7%, down from a high of nearly 13% in mid November. The World Health Organization this spring recommended a rate of no more than 5% in communities wishing to reopen.

Currently one in every 59 Coloradans is estimated to be contagious, Polis said, down from the one in 40 estimated to be contagious earlier this month.

The state is seeing a “high plateau” of new cases, Polis said, adding that he was grateful levels have not been increasing.

The U.S. stood on the verge of adding a second COVID-19 vaccine to its arsenal Friday as the outbreak passes through its most lethal phase yet, with the nation regularly recording over 3,000 deaths per day.

The Food and Drug Administration was evaluating a shot developed by Moderna Inc. and the National Institutes of Health and was expected to give it the green light soon, clearing the way for its use to begin as early as Monday.

That would give the U.S. a critical new weapon against the coronavirus, in addition to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine now being dispensed to millions of health care workers and nursing home patients as part of the biggest vaccination drive in American history.

The goal is to vaccinate 80% or so of the U.S. population by mid-2021 to finally conquer the outbreak.