Coronavirus: Joe Biden vows 100 million shots in 100 days as US cases top 15 million
- US president-elect introduces his health care team and lays out goals for reversing the Covid-19 pandemic
- Trump holds ‘vaccine summit’ at White House, saying he will use executive powers if necessary to acquire sufficient doses
US President-elect Joe Biden introduced the team to lead his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, emphasising the mass vaccination distribution needed to achieve his goal of 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office.
The United States had recorded a total of more than 15 million infections on Tuesday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Biden said he needed Congress to fully fund vaccine distribution to all corners of the US. Getting children back to school will be a national priority in the first 100 days, Biden told a briefing in Wilmington, Delaware.
“In 100 days we can change the course of the disease and change life in America for the better,” Biden said. “Whatever your politics or point of view, mask up for 100 days.”
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Effective vaccines would help the Biden administration turn its focus to healing the ailing US economy. There was more positive news on Tuesday in the form of US Food and Drug Administration documents showing that the regulator did not raise any new issues about Pfizer’s vaccine safety or efficacy.
His first 100 days “won’t end the Covid-19 virus. I can’t promise that”, Biden said. “But, but we did not get into this mess quickly. We’re not going to get out of it quickly. It’s going to take some time. But I’m absolutely convinced. And then 100 days we can change the course of the disease and change life in America for the better.”
Biden introduced California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a Latino former congressman, for secretary of health and human services. Becerra has a long record of supporting the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
Biden chose Dr Rochelle Walensky, chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, to run the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was named as Biden’s chief medical adviser on the virus and Dr Vivek Murthy as surgeon general, reprising a role he held in the Obama administration.
Biden picked Jeff Zients, an economic adviser known for his managerial skills, as coronavirus “tsar”.
Zients will oversee the pandemic response, including the distribution of hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine in coordination with several federal agencies, among them the Pentagon.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump celebrated the development of coronavirus vaccines at a White House summit and vowed to use executive powers if necessary to acquire sufficient doses.
Trump raised the possibility of invoking the Defence Production Act – which allows the president to require companies to prioritise contracts deemed essential for national security – if the US struggles to obtain the vaccine for its citizens.
The White House did not invite members of the Biden transition team to the summit. Biden’s administration will oversee vaccine distribution after he is inaugurated on January 20.
White House officials wouldn’t commit that Trump would publicly get vaccinated to help persuade more Americans to take the same step.
“There is an open question as to whether, ultimately, he will be one of the ones to take it on air,” a senior White House aide said.
Throughout the pandemic, Trump has been openly dismissive of public health guidance, including eschewing mask wearing and encouraging his supporters to pack into venues for his rallies, as recently as Saturday night in Georgia, despite the state’s surge in infections.
Polls show that rising numbers of Americans are willing to take the Covid-19 vaccine, as confidence in the development process has grown in recent months. And several health care leaders have predicted that as more Americans get vaccinated, making a return to normality possible, acceptance will increase further.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg and Tribune News Service
