President-elect Joe Biden is warning that the Trump administration’s efforts to vaccinate Americans against the coronavirus “are lagging behind, far behind.”
Speaking in his hometown of Wilmington, Del., On Tuesday after meeting with advisers, Biden promised “a more aggressive effort” to get the vaccine rhythm “back on track.”
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The president-elect also criticized the outgoing government’s lack of COVID testing for Americans, calling it “a scam”.
President-elect Joe Biden speaks at The Queen Theater on Tuesday, December 29, 2020 in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo / Andrew Harnik)
Biden led his speech warning that “things are going to get worse before it gets better … We need to be honest, the next few weeks and months will be very difficult, a very difficult period for our nation. Perhaps the most difficult during this entire pandemic.”
Speaking on a day when the national number of coronavirus deaths since the pandemic that swept the US in February and March exceeded 335,000 people, Biden emphasized: “We are averaging the daily death rates of almost 2,200 people, which means that we will lose tens of thousands of more lives in the coming months. “
The president-elect warned that “the Trump administration’s plan to distribute vaccines is lagging behind, far behind.”
“As I have long feared and warned, the effort to distribute and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should. A few weeks ago, the Trump administration suggested that 20 million Americans could be vaccinated by the end of December. With only a few days left in December, we’ve vaccinated only a few million so far. “
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Trump officials who led Operation Warp Speed last week acknowledged that the vaccine’s launch was “unlikely” to reach its goal of 20 million vaccinations by the end of the month.
Dr. Moncef Slaoui, who heads the government’s efforts to accelerate the production and distribution of vaccines, told reporters that the process has been “slower than we thought it would be”.
Biden said he instructed his team “to prepare a much more aggressive effort with more federal involvement and leadership to get things back on track. We will find ways to increase the pace of vaccinations.”
He reiterated his goal of “ensuring that 100 million kicks are administered by the end of the first 100 days”.
“If Congress provides the funding, we will be able to meet that incredible goal. It would be necessary to increase the current pace five to six times to 1 million shots a day,” said Biden.
He also acknowledged that “this will be the biggest operational challenge ever faced as a nation, but we are going to do that.”
The president-elect also made it clear that “he will use my power under the Defense Production Act when I swear to order the private industry to speed up the manufacture of the materials needed for vaccines and protective equipment.”
The Biden administration plans to establish vaccination sites, send mobile units to communities that are difficult to access and encourage people in minority communities who may be more skeptical about vaccines.
“We are going to launch a massive public education campaign to increase the acceptance of the vaccine. We will do everything we can to show that vaccines are safe, ”he said.
Although the president has repeatedly praised the testing efforts of COVID under his administration, Biden painted a very different picture. “After 10 months of the pandemic, we still don’t have enough tests. It’s a scam,” he promised to increase the tests.
And he promised “more protective equipment for frontline health workers who are still reusing masks and aprons”.
But the president-elect said that all of these efforts would require additional funding from Congress. He plans to propose a new COVID action package.
Biden also repeated his goal of asking Americans to wear a mask during the first 100 days of his government to prevent the virus from spreading. He reiterated that he would determine the use of a mask among federal officials and in government buildings, as well as on planes, trains and buses traveling between states. And he said he would work with the country’s governors and mayors to implement masking mandates across much of the country.
But he also enlisted the help of Trump, who spent just over three weeks at the White House.
Biden said he hoped the president – who at the beginning of the pandemic refused to wear a mask in public – “promotes the use of a mask clearly and unambiguously”.
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The president-elect praised former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a Trump ally who was infected with COVID. Christie this month starred in a public service ad calling on Americans to wear masks.
“I give credit to former Governor Chris Christie. He and I disagree on several things, but I am grateful that he is now encouraging people to do the right thing and use brands for themselves, their loved ones and their country,” said Biden. “I hope President Trump will listen to him. He can do that too. It would make a huge difference for President Trump to say wear masks.”
Allie Raffa of Fox News contributed to this report