US President-elect Joe Biden has warned that a delay in transition by the outgoing Trump administration will delay the Covid-19 vaccination plan by “weeks or months.”
In a virtual roundtable with healthcare workers on Covid-19, Biden alleged Wednesday that his transition team has not received any cooperation from the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump has refused to grant the November 3 US election and has filed multiple lawsuits challenging the poll results in various states.
“One of the problems that we are having now is the lack of recognition from the administration – the law says that the General Services Administration has a person who recognizes who the winner is and then has to have access to all the data and information that the government owns to be prepared, ”he said.
It doesn’t require there to be an outright winner, Biden said, adding that it says the apparent winner.
“We haven’t been able to access the kinds of things we need to know about depth of stocks. We know there is not much. We get to the point where we have an idea of when these vaccines will come out, how they will be distributed, who will be first in line, what is the plan, “he said.
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“There are more than 300 million Americans and beyond our border who will have to be looked after. There are many things that we simply do not have available. As for it being available soon, we will be weeks or months behind schedule to put together the whole initiative related to the biggest promise we have with two pharmaceutical companies that come in and find 95 percent effectiveness / efficiency in vaccines. , which is a huge promise, ”said Biden.
He said it’s the only slowdown right now facing his transition team.
“We created a world-class team that everyone would be proud of and we are ready to get started and do a great job right now,” he said.
This week, some of the largest medical groups in the country joined Dr. Anthony Fauci, as well as members of the Biden-Harris Covid-19 Advisory Board, in calling on the GSA to stop delaying verification and ensure a smooth transition as Covid-19 infection rates soar across the country.
Experts emphasized the need for a smooth transition to beef up the Covid-19 response and prevent further harm to the American people.
They said the verification was necessary for the Biden-Harris transition to help determine economic and public health steps to control the virus, provide immediate relief to working families, address ongoing racial and ethnic disparities and reopen schools and businesses. safely and effectively.
In a letter, the CEOs of the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Nurses Association urged the Trump administration to “work closely with the Biden transition team to share all critical information related to Covid-19 “. “Real-time data and information needs to be shared on the supply of therapeutic products, test supplies, personal protective equipment, ventilators, hospital bed capacity and workforce availability to plan for a greater deployment of the nation’s assets. to save countless lives, ”they wrote in the letter.
“All information on the capacity of the Strategic National Reserve, the assets of Operation Warp Speed and the plans for the dissemination of therapies and vaccines should be shared as quickly as possible to ensure that there is continuity in strategic planning so that no there is no lapse in our ability to care for patients, ”they said.
The letter cited their perspective as “providers of care for all Americans” who see the suffering that is occurring due to Covid-19.
“We see families that have lost both parents to Covid-19; we see children suffering long-term effects due to a Covid-19 infection; and we see that minority populations suffer disproportionately from the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is from this front-line human perspective that we urge you to share critical data and information as soon as possible, ”he said.
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