President-elect Joe Biden speaks in Wilmington, Delaware, on January 14.
Photographer: Alex Wong / Getty Images
Photographer: Alex Wong / Getty Images
President-elect Joe Biden has proposed revising eligibility rules for coronavirus vaccines and opening more sites for distribution, but his plan to significantly increase vaccines in the United States largely retains the bones of the Trump administration.
Prior to the remarks in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden’s office published the changes it will make to increase vaccination rates. His commitments are vague in terms of deadlines, reinforcing Biden’s previous warnings that there will be no quick fix to spreading the virus in the US.
“I did not go into all this overnight. And we won’t get out of this overnight, “Biden said. “We are staying in a very dark winter.”
Biden and his aides have increasingly criticized the launch of the Trump administration’s vaccine, which far exceeded the inoculation targets. But the president-elect’s plan is to review Trump’s effort, not rewrite it.
“The launch of the vaccine in United States it has been a negative failure so far, “he said. Five changes, he said, will help the United States meet its 100 million dose target in the first 100 days of its mandate. Biden said he would ask people to “mask” for 100 days after the inauguration – calling it a “patriotic act” – and make face masks a requirement for federal property and interstate travel.
“You have my word: we’ll get the hell out of this operation,” he said.
Biden is asking Americans to “mask” for 100 days, criticizing the GOP
As chair, Biden will encourage states to abandon a complex set of priority groups used for triage of vaccinations and instead focus on firing key frontline workers and anyone aged 65 or over, according to an announcement Friday by his transition office. He intends to set up community vaccination centers and mobile clinics and “initiate” an effort to make photographs available at pharmacies.
The implementation of the priority groups was led by science, but “it was too rigid and confusing,” Biden said. “There are tens of millions of unused vaccine doses in freezers across the country,” while people who want vaccinations can’t get them, he said. However, part of the delay is due to state-level bottlenecks.
He said he would instruct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to start setting up community vaccination sites on the first day of operation, in locations such as gymnasiums, sports stadiums and community centers. “Mobile clinics moving from community to community” will partner with local health professionals to receive vaccinations to “hard-to-reach” communities, he said. Bechara Choucair, the coordinator of the Biden vaccine, said that 100 vaccination sites will be set up by the end of February.
Pharmacy plans
The Biden administration will also work more closely with pharmacies to deliver vaccines, although it was unclear how they would improve the partnerships they have already established with the government. It is also not clear that they will get doses quickly, with conditions still requiring more.
Biden also said he would use the Defense Production Act to stimulate the manufacture of vaccines and consumables needed for their administration, such as vials and needles. The announcement included some details.
“We have already asked the team and identified the suppliers who are ready to work with our teams,” he said.
Its fourth change, he said, is a previously announced plan to release more first doses of vaccines and keep fewer in reserve for the second dose. The Trump administration has announced that it will make this change this week. Biden said his administration will not change the recommended dosing schedules, which require people to receive a booster vaccine three or four weeks after their first dose.
Its fifth change, he said, will be more transparent about the vaccination program, including regular updates on progress in vaccinating the population.
Biden’s team on Friday named former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler as chief science officer for what he calls his Covid response. They are withdrawing their name from Operation Warp Speed, which President Donald Trump used for the vaccination effort. Kessler will replace Moncef Slaoui, who served as the initiative’s scientist, and Kessler will focus on administering the vaccine.
Biden is preparing to take an oath next week under heavy security after a deadly January 6 riot in the US Chapter and against the backdrop of a furious pandemic that is the biggest crisis of his presidency birth. The United States this week set records for daily coronavirus deaths – there were 3,899 on Thursday alone – while new cases and current hospitalizations are near record levels.
Relief package
The president-elect unveiled his aid plan for the pandemic a day earlier, proposing a $ 1.9 trillion package to deal with obstacles in Congress. On Friday, he further detailed the vaccination plan, some of which is based on the adoption of a new bill. For example, it has committed to hiring 100,000 public health workers to help with vaccinations and identify contacts.
Biden’s vaccination for front-line workers includes teachers and employees of grocery stores, as well as health workers.
The Trump administration has tried to smooth out a rocket vaccine launch. Since coronavirus vaccines were introduced in the United States in mid-December, 11.9 million doses have been administered, according to the Bloomberg vaccine. This represents only 39% of the photos shared.
The launch takes place in a race against the clock. The US has registered over 23 million confirmed cases and regularly registers 250,000 new cases every day. About 389,000 Americans died, with the United States killing 400,000 at Biden’s inauguration.
(Updates with more details throughout.)