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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Officials from President Donald Trump’s vaccine distribution effort have not informed anyone about President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team and have no plans to do so, a U.S. Democratic senator said after a call. to the White House on Thursday.
“Fresh off a conference call with the Trump Administration’s vaccine distribution team,” Sen. Chris Murphy said on Twitter. “They confirmed that they have not informed anyone about President-elect Biden’s team and that they have no plans to do so. This is potentially catastrophic.”
The call, for all senators, was made on Thursday morning by General Gustave Perna and Dr. Moncef Slaoui, leaders https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2020/05/15/trump- administration-announces-framework-and-leadership-for-operation-warp-speed.html of “Operation Warp Speed,” the administration’s vaccine development effort, said a congressional aide.
When asked for comment, White House spokesman Brian Morgenstern did not address whether Biden’s team would be briefed, saying that vaccine distribution plans from the Centers for Disease Control and state governors were publicly available.
“Manufacturing is well under way and Dr. Slaoui confirmed that 20 million Americans are on track to receive vaccines in December and tens of millions per month thereafter,” Morgenstern said.
A wave of coronavirus infection has gripped the United States and the death toll surpassed 250,000 this week. A vaccine may be available in the coming months, but distributing it to more than 300 million Americans could be difficult due to special storage and transportation conditions.
Biden said Wednesday that a variety of information had not been made available for his campaign, including the COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan. His administration will assume control of the United States government on January 20, when he takes office.
Failure to immediately share critical COVID-19 data with Biden’s team will lead to unnecessary and deadly delays in addressing the pandemic, leaders of the US medical establishment said.
Biden’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Emily Murphy, administrator of the General Services Administration, a generally little-known agency that keeps the US government running, has so far refused to “determine” the winner of the November 3 presidential election between Biden and Trump, a condition for releasing funds. and resources for the winner.
Despite a clear margin of victory for Biden, Trump has refused to budge and his legal challenges are fading. But he has been endorsed by many of his fellow Republicans, both in Washington and across the country.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, additional reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Heather Timmons and Alistair Bell)
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