President-elect Joe Biden attributed inflexibility with coronavirus vaccine distribution under President Trump for his administration’s failure to meet its inoculation target.
“The process of establishing priority groups was driven by science, but the problem is implementation has been too rigid and confusing,” Biden said Friday in Delaware.
Trump’s Operation Warp Speed aimed to vaccinate 20 million people from COVID-19 by the end of last year. As of Thursday, roughly 11 million were protected from the virus.
During public remarks pitching his $400 billion national vaccination and testing program, Biden also scolded House Republicans who refused to wear masks during last week’s deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol in his harshest terms yet. At least four Democratic lawmakers have tested positive for the coronavirus since they were held in a secure location with their colleagues during the siege.
“What the hell’s the matter with them? It’s time to grow up,” he said.
Biden made the comments while reiterating his pledge to ask the country to “mask up” for his first 100 days in office, starting next Wednesday. He lamented how the fact that wearing face coverings had become a partisan issue was “a stupid, stupid thing to happen.” He similarly addressed vaccine hesitancy, saying his team would work to counter disinformation campaigns “already underway to undermine trust” in the shots.
Biden’s vaccination proposal, part of his $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan,” has five main points. On Friday, he explained how he wanted to expand priority jab access to people older than 65 years of age, essential workers, and those living in remote communities, to increase the number of vaccination sites, surge supply manufacturing and distribution, empower more people to give shots, and implement an extensive public health education program.
Although he chided Republicans for their approach to the pandemic, Biden insisted unity was required to help bring his vision to fruition. In other words, for Congress to pass his expensive rescue package. To assist his case, he issued a reminder that infection rates were up to 34%, and the country was reporting “between 3,000 and 4,000 deaths per day.”
“The honest truth is this: Things will get worse before they get better. The policy changes we are making will take time to show up in the COVID statistics,” Biden told the small group of reporters assembled for the event.
He added, “Unity is not some pie-in-the-sky dream. It’s a practical step to getting things.”
