President-elect Biden on Friday revealed what he considered a “bold” plan to meet his promised goal of 100 million coronavirus vaccinations by the end of his first 100 days at the White House.
Biden pointed to the delayed vaccination efforts of the President Trump administration, saying that “the launch of the vaccine in the United States has been a terrible failure so far.”
BIDEN REVEALS $ 1.9 TRILLION ‘RESCUE’ PLAN TO COMBAT CORONAVIRUS, ACCELERATE VACCINES AND COVID TESTING
The Trump administration intended to vaccinate 20 million Americans by the end of December, but according to new figures released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so far only 10.6 million people have received at least one of the two. necessary vaccines.
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA, UNITED STATES – 12/20/2020: Zaira Hernandez, frontline healthcare professional is vaccinated with the Pfizer covid-19 vaccine by Amy Meek at UI Health Bloomington. (Photo by Jeremy Hogan / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images)
Biden promised that his next government will spare no “effort to vaccinate Americans.
“Our plan is as clear as it is bold,” said Biden. “Vaccinate more people for free. Create more places for them to be vaccinated. Mobilize more medical teams to place injections in people’s arms. Increase the offer and take it out as soon as possible ”.
The president-elect’s speech – which he delivered in his home town of Wilmington, Del., Came as new cases of the virus continue to increase across the country. Nearly 390,000 people in the US have died of COVID since the pandemic swept the country almost a year ago. More than 23.4 million people in the U.S. have been infected with the virus since it first appeared. And on Tuesday, more than 4,300 deaths across the country were related to the virus, a new one-day record.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE LATEST FOX NEWS INFORMATION ON COVID VACCINATIONS
“We are still in a very dark winter,” warned Biden. “Infection rates have increased by 34%. More people are being hospitalized for COVID than ever before. We are between three and four thousand deaths a day, as we approach the bleak 400,000 deaths in America. This is impressive to state the obvious.”
President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an event at The Queen Theater, Friday, January 15, 2021, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo / Matt Slocum)
Biden listed a handful of steps to reach his goal.
“We are going to work immediately with the states to open vaccination to more priority groups,” said Biden.
And he argued that “the implementation was very rigid and confusing”. He said: “If you asked most people today, they wouldn’t be able to tell who exactly is being vaccinated. What they do know is that there are tens of millions of unused vaccine doses in freezers across the country, as long as people want and I need the vaccine, I can’t. “
He promised to “solve the problem by encouraging states to allow more people to be vaccinated, in addition to health professionals, and to go through these groups as quickly as they think we can. That includes anyone 65 and over, a population that represents more than 80% of deaths so far. “
CONGRESS REPUBLICAN BIDEN SLAMS THAT REFUSED TO USE MASKS IN THE ATTACK OF THE CAPITOLA
Biden has also pledged to establish thousands of community vaccination centers. “On my first day in office, I will instruct the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, to begin installing the first of these centers,” he said. The president-elect said he would open 100 vaccination centers across the country by the end of his first month in office, many of them in school gymnasiums, sports stadiums and community centers. “
“We are going to ensure that there are vaccination centers in the communities hardest hit by the pandemic, in black and Latin communities and in rural communities as well,” he said.
President-elect Joe Biden receives his second dose of the coronavirus vaccine at ChristianaCare Christiana Hospital in Newark, Del., Monday, January 11, 2021. The vaccine is being administered by chief nurse Ric Cuming. (AP Photo / Susan Walsh)
“We will provide resources to help states cover costs for personnel … and protective equipment,” he said.
Biden said his COVID team would also “fully activate” pharmacies to supply vaccines.
Biden said he would use “the Defense Production Act to work with private industry to speed up the manufacture of the materials needed to supply and administer the vaccine”.
The president-elect promised that his government “will ensure that state and local authorities know how much supply they will receive and when they can expect to get it so that they can plan.”
Pointing to the hesitation of many in the Black, Latin and Native American communities to trust the vaccine, Biden said his “government will launch a massive public education campaign” to rebuild trust.
“Equity is central to our COVID response,” he said.