Addressing the nation near his home in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said he would order increased production of syringes and other supplies to ramp up vaccinations against COVID-19 and improve upon the Trump administration rollout that he has called a \u201cdismal failure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump had aimed to give vaccine doses to 20 million Americans by the end of 2020. But only 11.1 million coronavirus shots had been administered as of Thursday out of more than 30 million doses distributed to states, amid widespread distrust and roughly 40% of the population refusing to get vaccinates.<\/p>\n
Biden promised to do better and to get 100 million vaccine shots into the arms of Americans during his first 100 days in office.\u00a0 Federal officials have largely left states to manage distribution, resulting in big differences in vaccination rates. The Trump administration has said it expects 1 million shots to be delivered per day by the end of next week.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a time to set big goals and pursue them with courage and conviction because the health of the nation is literally at stake,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n Biden said he will instruct FEMA would to begin setting up community vaccination sites on his first day in office, in locations like gymnasiums, sports stadiums and community centers, where retired doctors would administer shots to teachers, grocery store workers, people over 65 years old and other groups who do not currently qualify.<\/p>\n \u201cMobile clinics moving from community to community\u201d will partner will local health-care professionals to get vaccinations to \u201chard-to-reach\u201d communities, he said.<\/p>\n According to a document released by his transition team, Biden would invoke the Defense Production Act to increase production of equipment needed to distribute the vaccines, such as glass vials, needles and syringes. He would also use the law to support vaccine refrigeration and storage. States that use their National Guard in the effort would be reimbursed by the federal government.<\/p>\n As part of Biden’s “aggressive” plan to defeat covid, he called on all Americans to wear masks in public for 100 days to combat the spread of the coronavirus, saying it was \u201cstupid\u201d that face coverings had become a political issue.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a patriotic act,\u201d Biden said in a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday outlining his plan to accelerate vaccinations against the virus. \u201cWe\u2019re asking you, we\u2019re in a war with this virus.\u201d Biden also criticized Republican lawmakers who have refused to wear masks. \u201cWhat the hell is the matter with them? It\u2019s time to grow up.”<\/p>\n \u201cFor God\u2019s sake, wear a mask – if not for yourself, for your loved ones, for your country,\u201d Biden said, despite a\u00a0recent Danish study which\u00a0<\/a>found that masks provide the wearer with only limited protection against COVID-19 infection. That study, conducted in April and May in which 6,024 adults were divided into two groups, found that after one month, 1.8% of the people wearing masks had been infected, while 2.1% of the people in the control group had tested positive.<\/p>\n Biden also called for increasing vaccine distribution in lower-income neighborhoods not currently well served by public health hospitals and pharmacies. Biden also plans a marketing campaign to encourage those skeptical of the vaccine to get inoculated.<\/p>\n \u201cThe vaccine rollout in the\u00a0United States\u00a0has been a dismal failure so far,\u201d he said. Five changes, he said, will help the U.S. meet his goal of 100 million doses in his first 100 days.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have my word: we will manage the hell out of this operation,\u201d he said. It was unclear who the “we” is though we suspect he means the Federal government, which explains just how “hellishly” this operation will be managed.<\/p>\n That said, and similar to his pre-election promises, Biden’s pledges remain vague about timelines, reinforcing Biden\u2019s previous warnings that there\u2019ll be no quick fix.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t get into all of this overnight. And we won\u2019t get out of it overnight, either,\u201d Biden said. \u201cWe remain in a very dark winter.\u201d<\/p>\n According to an announcement Friday by his transition office, Biden would encourage states to abandon a complex series of priority groups that\u2019s been used to triage vaccination and instead focus on giving shots to front-line essential workers and anyone over 65.\u00a0 He plans to set up community vaccination centers and mobile clinics and \u201cjump-start\u201d an effort to make shots available at pharmacies.<\/p>\n And so once again, the scientists – who originally urged a priority group rollout – were proven wrong.<\/p>\n Implementation of priority groups was driven by science but \u201chas been too rigid and confusing,\u201d Biden said. \u201cThere are tens of millions of doses of vaccine sitting around unused in freezers across the country\u201d while people who want vaccinations can\u2019t get them, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve already asked the team and we\u2019ve identified the suppliers who are prepared to work with our teams,\u201d he said. Needless to say, companies like Pfizer which stand to make billions, were delighted: Pfizer CEO said he is \u201cready and able to support this plan\u201d adding that “we are particularly aligned with the ideas of federally assisted vaccination centers, financial support to the States, mobile clinics to reach underserved urban areas and rural communities, vaccine availability in pharmacies and qualified health centers and an expanded public health workforce.”<\/p>\n Biden’s fourth change is a previously announced plan to release more first doses of vaccines and hold less in reserve for second doses. The Trump administration announced it would make that change itself this week. Biden said his administration would not change recommended dosing schedules that call for people to receive a booster shot three or four weeks after their first dose.<\/p>\n His fifth change, he said, will be more transparency for the vaccine program, including regular updates on progress toward vaccinating the population.<\/p>\n Biden\u2019s team on Friday appointed former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner\u00a0David Kessler\u00a0as chief science officer of what it calls \u201cCovid Response.\u201d They\u2019re retiring the \u201cOperation Warp Speed\u201d name President Donald Trump used for the vaccination effort. Kessler will replace\u00a0Moncef Slaoui, who served as the initiative\u2019s chief scientist, and Kessler will focus on administering the vaccine.<\/p>\n Earlier in the day, his transition team said he will reorganize the vaccine distribution team currently called \u201cOperation Warp Speed\u201d and has asked former Food and Drug Administration chief David Kessler to work with manufacturers to boost vaccine availability. On Thursday evening, Biden unveiled a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan on Thursday that includes $20 billion for vaccine distribution as well as $50 billion for coronavirus testing, which experts and officials said should help speed the process up.<\/p>\n Biden’s aggressive measures come just as the number of hospitalizations in the US\u00a0declined for the first time in 4 months<\/a>…<\/p>\n … and as Bank of America predicted that, absent a\u00a0major spread of a mutant variant<\/a>, the vaccinations should bring the virus under control in just a few weeks.<\/p>\n A video of Biden laying out his plan is below.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_mobile\/public\/inline-images\/vaccinated%20people_0.jpg?itok=eF9Rp23r\")
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