By Laura Olson
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden on Friday sketched out his proposal for overhauling the country’s slow and uneven effort to vaccinate Americans against COVID-19, pledging to open more centers for administering those shots, boost the public health workforce, and improve the information flow to states so they can better plan.
Biden has called for administering 100 million vaccines during his first 100 days in office, a goal that will require a massive uptick in vaccine production, distribution, and injections.
A month after the first COVID-19 vaccine was approved, only 30 million doses have been sent to states and less than 12 million have been administered, according to tracking data compiled by Bloomberg News.
Biden said in a speech Friday afternoon that he wants states to allow more people to be vaccinated, including anyone 65 or older and essential workers like teachers, first responders, and grocery store employees. The Trump administration issued a similar directive to states earlier this week, urging the expansion of who is eligible for a shot.
But Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services drew blowback for confusing statements that had indicated to states that more doses would be sent so they could carry out the vaccination of more people.
Instead, the reserved doses that the federal government had on hand were just those earmarked for people who already had a first dose, according to the New York Times. That left no additional doses to help states expand the population of who is receiving a vaccine.
Biden said his administration will not hold back a second dose of the two-shot regimen, and that it would use the Defense Production Act to accelerate production of supplies needed to administer the vaccine, such as syringes and protective equipment.
He also said they would fully reimburse states for any costs of National Guard members deployed to assist with vaccination, as well as provide more resources for administrative costs and offer clearer, more reliable information on the doses being sent.
“Right now, we’re hearing that they can’t plan, because they don’t know how much supply of vaccines they can expect and what time frame,” Biden said. “That stops when we’re in office.”
Biden’s comments on his incoming administration’s plan for ramping up vaccinations expanded upon the proposal he outlined Thursday evening for a new $1.9 trillion economic and coronavirus relief package.
Democrats and even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce swiftly praised that proposal, though congressional Republicans, including Sens. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Rick Scott of Florida, released statements Friday raising eyebrows at the price tag.
“While there are some good things in President-elect Biden’s proposed package, like help for individuals and small businesses and increased support for vaccines and testing, he plans to spend too much of the $1.9 trillion dollars in taxpayer money on liberal priorities that have nothing to do with the coronavirus,” Scott said.
Biden said he’s “optimistic” that Congress will provide the funding necessary to carry out his vaccination plan, saying Americans are “ready to spare no effort and no expense to get this done.”
His plan also calls for creating 100 new federally supported health centers within his first 100 days, aimed at better ensuring the vaccines are accessible in areas hard-hit by the virus, particularly rural areas and those with heavily minority populations.
Biden also reiterated his plan to work with mayors and governors to require mask-wearing, describing efforts like masks and social distancing as still crucial to preventing COVID-19 cases that continue to rise.
“I know it has become a partisan issue,” Biden said of mask-wearing, “but what a stupid, stupid thing for it to happen. This is a patriotic act.”
***
More than 21,000 Guard members from 50 states headed to D.C., and numbers may grow
WASHINGTON — Wednesday’s presidential inauguration ceremony may have a scaled-down audience due to the pandemic, but the security presence on hand to ensure it goes smoothly will be supersized.
At least 21,000 National Guard men and women — from all 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia — will provide security support for the inauguration, according to the National Guard Bureau, amid fears about threats of violence following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Some 7,250 were on hand in D.C. as of Friday.
Those soldiers and airmen typically come from across the country to assist during the massive, once-every-four-years event. But four years ago, those state-based units were asked to provide a fraction of this year’s figure, sending more than 7,500 National Guard members to assist when President Donald Trump was sworn in.
The number of National Guard members — some of whom were camped out this week inside the Capitol, the scene of the violent riot by Trump supporters — could grow further. The Associated Press reported that law enforcement leaders now believe they need at least 25,000 troops to secure President-elect Joe Biden’s swearing-in. READ MORE
Columbus stayed peaceful because it prepared for war
Armed law enforcement officers stood watch at the foot of a statue in memory of President McKinley, each as still as the monument.
Behind them, these words are etched into Vermont granite: “Let us remember that our interest is in concord, not conflict, and that our real eminence rests in the victories of peace, not those of war.”
Those troopers were joined Sunday by many more defending the Ohio Statehouse steps and each of the entrances. Humvees surrounded the capitol building. There were reported to be hundreds of Ohio National Guard troops stationed inside, recently mobilized by the governor to ward off an insurrection attempt like that seen at the nation’s capital.
Sunday was peaceful, such that a protest attended by armed demonstrators and guarded by law enforcement like it was a military base can possibly feel peaceful. This was, many expected, supposed to be a last stand of sorts before this week’s inauguration of President Joe Biden.
It didn’t turn out that way. There was one man shouting conspiracy theories about a stolen election into a bullhorn, and interspersed among the sparse crowd was an occasional Biden sign, a Trump-emblazoned face shield, a handmade poster offering vague anti-government sentiments. READ MORE
