Vice President Kamala Harris said in a new interview that the Biden government is “starting from scratch” in a national vaccination strategy amid the coronavirus pandemic, despite Dr. Anthony Fauci saying the opposite last month.
During an interview with Mike Allen of Axios, Harris said the “challenge” faced by the new government since taking office is that “there was no stock” of vaccines against the new coronavirus.
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“There was no national vaccination strategy or plan, we were leaving it up to states and local leaders to try to find out,” explained Harris. “So in many ways, we are starting from scratch on something that has been going on for almost an entire year.”
Harris said the Biden government will “challenge” that “anything is possible”.
“Our standard has to be that anything is possible, but we are going to have to work hard to do that,” she said. “Which means, again, no patience to delay, no patience to ‘no’, no patience to ‘it can’t be done’.”
Despite Harris’ view that the Biden government is “starting from scratch”, Fauci disagreed and said that, instead, they would be “amplifying” past practices “in style”.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the Trump coronavirus task force, now an important voice in the Biden government’s efforts against coronavirus, was asked about the vaccination strategy during a White House press conference. last month .
“No, we are certainly not starting from scratch because there are activities going on since the distribution,” said Fauci. “But if you look at the plan, the president [Biden] presented on the things he is going to do, that is, increase the community’s vaccine centers, involve pharmacies more, where appropriate, involve the Defense Production Law more – not just maybe with getting more vaccines, but even with the things you need to get a good vaccine program, for example, needles and syringes. “
Fauci added that the Biden government “is assuming what is happening, but expanding a lot”.
“We are coming up with new ideas, but also with some ideas that were not bad ideas from the previous government,” said Fauci. “We are continuing, but you will see a real increase in that.”
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The Biden government, in its first weeks in office, launched a vaccine distribution strategy, with President Biden last week announcing the purchase of an additional 200 million doses of the vaccine – a move the president says would be used to inoculate some 300 million people by the end of July.
When asked about the schedule on Friday, Biden said, “It has never been done before.”
“Our hope is that, by the end of the summer, everyone, almost everyone, almost 300 million doses,” said Biden. “It will take time.”
Last week, Biden said the government formalized its contract with Pfizer and the German company BioNTech, maker of the first vaccine COVID-19, to see approval for emergency use in the United States, for an additional 100 million doses.
The government also formalized its contract with Moderna, maker of the second vaccine, to see approval for emergency use, also for another 100 million doses.
Overall, the additional 200 million doses will increase the country’s vaccine supply by about 50%, to 600 million total doses.
“We now buy enough vaccine supplies to vaccinate all Americans,” said Biden.
In addition, in making the announcement, the president said that Pfizer and Moderna should deliver an earlier order for 200 million doses by the end of May, a month ahead of schedule.
With more guaranteed doses, the country is also on track to meet the government’s goal of vaccinating 100 million people in the first 100 days, added Biden.