- President-elect Joe Biden warned on Tuesday that it would take “years, not months, to vaccinate the American people” at the current rate.
- The latest government data shows that about 200,000 people are being vaccinated each day, and that the U.S. is expected to fall short of its 20 million vaccine target by the end of 2020.
- Biden wants the United States to administer 100 million injections in his first 100 days in office. This would require extra funding approved by Congress, he said.
- Even with that higher rate, it would still take months for most Americans to be vaccinated, he said, adding that the situation may not improve until “mid-March”.
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President-elect Joe Biden warned on Tuesday that it could take years for most Americans to be vaccinated against COVID-19 at current distribution rates, as he again promised to deliver 100 million vaccines in his first 100 days to the White House.
Biden’s prediction of a harsh winter came with the goal of reducing public expectations that the pandemic would end soon after he took office on January 20, while warning Congress that he wants to significantly increase spending to streamline the distribution of vaccines, expand COVID-19 testing, and help reopen closed schools.
Biden said that about 2 million people received the initial dose of the two-dose vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech or Moderna, which are the only vaccines authorized in the United States. Biden received his first shot.
Data from the United States Department of Health and Human Services show that about 200,000 people are being vaccinated daily, on average, with many states taking too long to get the vaccines because they have been placed in people’s arms.
At this rate, the White House is expected to fall well short of its goal of 20 million people being vaccinated by the end of 2020, according to Bloomberg.
“The effort to distribute and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should,” said Biden in Wilmington, Delaware. At the current rate, “it will take years, not months, to vaccinate the American people.”
Shortly after Biden’s comments, Colorado Governor Jared Polis said his state had discovered the country’s first known case of the highly infectious coronavirus variant B.1.1.7, which was originally documented in the United Kingdom. Scientists believe the variant is more contagious than other previously identified strains of the SAR-CoV-2 variant – but not more severe in the symptoms it causes.
It has also been detected in several European countries, in addition to Canada, Australia, India, South Korea and Japan, among others.
Although experts believe that the newly approved COVID-19 vaccines will be effective against the variant, the emergence of a more highly transmissible strain of the virus makes the rapid implementation of immunizations even more critical.
Biden’s goal of ensuring that 100 million vaccines are administered by the end of his 100th day in office would mean “increasing the current rate five to six times to 1 million vaccines per day,” said Biden, noting that he would require approval from the Congress additional funding.
Even at such an ambitious pace, it would still take months for most Americans to be vaccinated, he said, adding that the situation may not improve until “mid-March”.
Biden also said he plans to invoke the Defense Production Act, which gives the president emergency powers to order the expansion of industrial production of essential materials or products based on national security, to accelerate the production of vaccine supplies.
Trump invoked the law during the pandemic.
To reopen schools safely, Biden said Congress would need to provide funding for additional transportation so that students can maintain social distance and improve ventilation in school buildings.
Congress also needs to fund more diagnostic tests and help pay for protective equipment for healthcare professionals, added Biden.
Trump defended his government’s record after Biden concluded his comments.
“It is up to the States to distribute the vaccines, once they are brought to the areas designated by the Federal Government. We not only developed vaccines, including putting money to streamline the process, but we took them to the states, ”he said. said on twitter.
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Trump, who contracted COVID-19 in October, often downplayed the severity of the pandemic and oversaw a response that many health experts say is disorganized and arrogant and sometimes ignored the science behind the transmission of the disease.
To date, the respiratory virus has infected more than 19 million people and killed more than 334,000 in the United States.
One of the latest victims of the pandemic was United States Congressman Luke Letlow, a Louisiana Republican who died on COVID-19 Tuesday, his campaign said. Letlow, 41, announced on December 18 that he had tested positive for the virus.
Dr. Atul Gawande, a member of Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board, told CBS News that the transition team did not yet have all the information it needed to understand the bottlenecks in delivering the vaccine.