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BETHESDA: US President Joe Biden (pix) Yesterday he said that the coronavirus vaccination program he inherited from Donald Trump was in “much worse shape” than he expected, while asking for patience and also announced that the government has bought 200 million more doses.
“We’re not going to have everything fixed for a while, but we are going to fix it,” Biden said in remarks at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
With demand for the vaccine far outstripping supply, Americans are scrambling to get appointments for their vaccines, leaving Biden with an acute problem less than a month after replacing Trump.
Biden said Trump, who spent his last two months in office in a futile effort to overturn the results of the Nov. 3 presidential election he lost, did not order enough vaccinations and did not do enough to get people to line up to get vaccinated. .
He said that the vaccine program he inherited was in “much worse shape” than he had anticipated and that his transition team had been misled about the vaccine supply.
“While scientists did their job discovering vaccines in record time, my predecessor, I’ll be very frank about it, did not do his job in preparing for the daunting challenge of vaccinating hundreds of millions,” said Biden.
Brian Morgenstern, a former White House official involved in the coronavirus effort, said the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed program had prepared plans well in advance, with the help of many career officials still serving in the government.
“That is why the goals of the new Administration were exceeded even before they took office. Enough of lies, excuses and political shots. It’s time to lead, ”he said.
Trump had expressed pride in the speed of vaccine development during his tenure.
Biden said the death toll from coronavirus in the US is likely to hit 500,000 next month. He urged Americans to wear masks to prevent the spread.
“We have now purchased enough vaccine to vaccinate all Americans,” Biden said.
He said the US government has signed contracts for 100 million doses of Moderna vaccine and 100 million more from Pfizer to help meet the goal.
“We appreciate the confidence that the United States government has shown in our Covid-19 vaccine,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a press release.
Pfizer spokeswoman Sharon Castillo confirmed that he and BioNTech had reached an agreement with the United States government.
“We will deliver 100 million doses by the end of March, a total of 200 million doses by the end of May and the 300 million full doses by the end of July,” he said.
The new vaccine orders, in addition to the 400 million doses previously contracted, would allow the United States to vaccinate a total of 300 million people through July 31 with doses of the two authorized vaccines.
That would be enough to vaccinate most of the 330 million people who want it, given that the two vaccines are not licensed for children and many people have said they do not want vaccines.
Additionally, Johnson & Johnson’s candidate vaccine is likely to be licensed later this month, with the company expecting to supply 100 million doses of its single-shot vaccine to the United States by mid-year.
– Reuters
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