Washington – President Joe Biden will sign 10 executive orders on Thursday as part of his strategy for fighting COVID-19, which has now claimed 400,000 American lives.
In a conference call with reporters, Jeffrey Zients, Mr Biden’s COVID response coordinator and members of the White House coronavirus response team outlined the government’s plan, which aims to vastly expand the testing and availability of vaccines and majority of schools in the next 100 days, administering 100 million vaccine doses by the end of April. The two approved vaccines require two injections to be effective. The Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine requires a booster three weeks after the initial dose. Patients receiving the Moderna vaccine need a second dose after four weeks.
How to see Biden signing executive orders on COVID-19 today
But White House officials recognize that much of their plan will be impossible if Congress nearly doesn’t pass the administration $ 2 trillion coronavirus proposal. White House advisers said Mr. Biden would use the Defense Production Act (DPA) to accelerate production of vaccines and personal protective equipment and reduce supply chain bottlenecks. The national strategy calls for “prioritizing stocks that can cause bottlenecks” and possibly using the DPA to “produce glass vials, stoppers, syringes”. [and] needles “to ensure that drug manufacturers have all the supplies they need to package vaccine doses while they are being produced. The officials said their goal was to stockpile supplies for immediate need and possible future pandemics.
The administration will also set up a coronavirus test board.
A 21-page summary of the National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness says the Biden government is committed to providing a coordinated response while providing “confidence, accountability and a sense of common purpose in our response to the pandemic.” to recover. an undeniable dig into the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic.
The Trump administration said it would vaccinate all Americans in the late spring or early summer. It is unclear whether the Biden government believes this goal is achievable.
“What we inherit [from the Trump administration] is so much worse than we could have imagined, ”said Zients.
To increase the availability of vaccines, the administration plans to establish vaccine centers in stadiums and community centers and mobilize federal personnel to assist in the administration of injections. This is a departure from the Trump administration’s approach, which sent vaccine doses to states and localities and left it largely up to them to figure out the distribution.
Under the administration of Biden, vaccine doses will are no longer stopped by the government, except for a small strategic reserve. The Trump administration also eventually adopted this policy after Biden’s transition team announced it would release a few doses.
And Wednesday, Mr. Biden issued an executive order imposing masks on federal property.
The Biden government is also highlighting racial and geographic differences in healthcare. One of the president’s executive orders will establish a health equality task force, led by Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, to collect data on the coronavirus’s disproportionate impact on minority communities.
President Trump’s surgeon general Jerome Adams has been asked to stay on to advise President Biden’s response to COVID-19. Zients said the government will hold regular press conferences with government doctors, including Anthony Fauci.
Executive orders
- Direct agencies to address shortages of vaccines and personal protective equipment using all authorities including the DPA;
- To order OSHA to publish safety guidelines for employees;
- Setting up a test board for coronavirus;
- Driving government scientists to identify new treatments for COVID-19;
- Driving HHS and CDC to provide clear guidelines on safe reopening of schools;
- Leading agencies to expand data collection and reporting capacity;
- Establish a health equality task force to address racial / geographic health inequalities; Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith becomes chairman;
- Improving the collection, sharing and analysis of Covid data, including statistics by race and ethnicity;
- Requires wearing of a mask on planes, trains, and other modes of public transportation;
- Strengthening clinical and long-term care facilities.
Presidential Memos
- Reimburse schools for PPE through the FEMA emergency fund;
- FEMA to increase state reimbursement for the National Guard from 75% to 100%.