US President-elect Joe Biden said Monday that more Americans “may die” because President Donald Trump did not allow his administration to cooperate and coordinate its response to the Covid-19 pandemic with members of the incoming team. , part of his broader refusal to accept the outcome of the election.
Biden had run on the promise of giving the battle against Covid-19 top priority if elected, and in his first significant step since the election, he established an advisory team to begin planning his administration’s approach after his takeover. of possession on January 20. he has yet to receive cooperation from the Trump team.
“More people can die if we don’t coordinate,” Biden told reporters when asked about the consequences of Trump’s refusal to cooperate with the new administration. “The vaccine is important. But it’s no use until you get vaccinated. “
He said it would take a massive effort to vaccinate all Americans – “a huge, huge, huge undertaking” – and pushed for the need to read the Trump administration’s plan for the development, procurement and distribution of vaccines under the Operation Warp Speed, saying, “If we have to wait until January 20 to start that planning, we are delayed.”
The deadly coronavirus has killed more than 247,000 Americans and infected more than 11.2 million. Cases have risen in recent days with 166,045 new infections reported in the past 24 hours and 995 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
“We are entering a very dark winter. Things will get a lot tougher before they get easier, ”Biden said. “That requires sparing no effort to fight Covid, so that we can safely open our businesses, resume our lives, and leave this pandemic behind. It’s going to be difficult, but it can be done. “
On Trump’s refusal to allow the transition process, Biden said: “I find this more embarrassing for the country than debilitating for my ability to get started.”
Trump has refused to publicly acknowledge that Biden beat him in the election and has launched a series of lawsuits that question the result. In addition, he has prohibited his administration from starting the routine transition process, denying the president-elect the intelligence briefings, among other things, that he should be receiving.
Lately, it seems that Trump has disconnected from the pandemic. He last attended a meeting of his coronavirus team five months ago and has barely acknowledged the crisis in his tweets, which mostly deal with allegations of voter fraud and claims that he won the election.
.
