[ad_1]
- US President-elect Joe Biden promised to increase vaccination efforts against Covid-19.
- Biden criticized the launch of Donald Trump’s vaccination.
- So far, only 2.1 million out of a target of 20 million Americans have been vaccinated.
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday pledged a tireless effort to fight Covid-19 the moment he takes office, warning that Donald Trump’s vaccination campaign was falling dangerously short.
LIVE | All the latest coronavirus updates and lockdown
Speaking after an expert briefing, Biden promised that as president he will undertake the “greatest operational challenge we have ever faced as a nation” to vaccinate against the disease that has claimed more than 1.7 million lives worldwide.
“The Trump administration’s plan to distribute vaccines is lagging behind,” Biden said, promising, “I will move heaven and earth so that we are going in the right direction.”
The Trump administration had predicted that 20 million Americans would be vaccinated by the end of December.
With less than three days to go, some 2.1 million have received their first injection of the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mask Mandate
Biden, who will take office on January 20, confirmed that he would invoke the Korean War-era Defense Production Act to force private industry to increase production of vaccines for the government.
He also implored Americans to wear masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and said he would impose a mandate on face coverings in areas where the federal government has jurisdiction, such as airplanes.
“We are planning a government-wide effort and we will work to establish vaccination sites and dispatch mobile units to hard-to-reach communities,” Biden said.
“We are going to make sure that vaccines are distributed equitably so that each person can receive one, regardless of their skin color and where they live.”
He expressed confidence in a return to normalcy in 2021, but not immediately.
“We may not see improvements until well into March as it will take time for our Covid response plan to begin to produce visible progress,” Biden said.
“The next few weeks and months are going to be very tough, a very difficult period for our nation, perhaps the most difficult during this entire pandemic.”
The United States recorded 245,500 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday and 3,223 more deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
The country has recorded more than 19.5 million cases and more than 337,000 deaths since the pandemic began, both the worst tolls in absolute terms in the world.
Do you want to know more about this topic? Sign up to receive one of 33 News24 newsletters to receive the information you want in your inbox. There are special newsletters available to subscribers.
