US Detects First Case of COVID-19 Variant as Biden Offers Grim Outlook for Vaccine

Travelers wearing protective masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) walk after exiting a flight at Denver Airport, Colorado, USA, November 24, 2020. REUTERS / Kevin Mohatt

WILMINGTON, Delaware / WASHINGTON – The first known case in the United States of a highly infectious variant of coronavirus was detected in Colorado on Tuesday, and President-elect Joe Biden said it could take years for most Americans to get vaccinated against the virus with the current accounting rates. .

“Today we discovered the first Colorado case of COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, the same variant discovered in the UK,” Colorado Governor Jared Polis said on Twitter Tuesday.

Biden’s prediction of a bleak winter appeared to be aimed at lowering public expectations that the pandemic will end shortly after he takes office on January 20, while also sending a message to Congress that his new administration wants to significantly increase the spending to accelerate vaccine distribution. testing and providing funds to states to help reopen schools.

US President-elect Joe Biden delivers remarks on the US response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at its transitional headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, USA, December 29, 2020. REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst

Biden, a Democrat, said about 2 million people have been vaccinated, well short of the 20 million that outgoing Republican President Donald Trump had promised by the end of the year. Biden defeated Trump in the November elections.

“As I feared and warned for a long time, the effort to distribute and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should,” added the Democrat. At the current rate, “it’s going to take years, not months, to vaccinate the American people,” said Biden in Wilmington, Delaware.

Shortly after his comments, Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced on Twitter that his state had discovered a case of a highly infectious variant of coronavirus B.1.1.7 first detected in the UK.

Biden’s goal of ensuring 100 million shots are delivered by the end of his 100th day in office would mean “increasing the current rate five to six times to 1 million shots a day,” Biden said, noting that it would require the Congress will approve it. additional financing.

“Even with that improvement, even if we increase the rate of vaccines to 1 million injections per day, it will still take months to vaccinate most of the United States population,” he said. He predicted that the situation might not improve until “well into March.”

Biden also said he plans to invoke the Defense Production Act, which gives the president the power to expand industrial production of key materials or products for national security or other reasons, to “accelerate the manufacture of materials needed for the vaccine.” .

Trump himself has invoked the law during the pandemic.

To safely reopen schools, Biden said Congress will need to provide funding for things like additional transportation so students can maintain social distancing and better ventilation in school buildings.

Congress also needs help to make COVID-19 testing more readily available and to help pay for protective equipment for healthcare workers, Biden added.

Earlier in the day, Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris received a COVID-19 vaccine live on television in an attempt to increase confidence in the inoculation, even as she warned that it will be months before it is available to all.

Registered Nurse Patricia Cummings gives US Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris a dose of the Modern COVID-19 vaccine at the United Medical Center in Washington, USA, on December 29, 2020. REUTERS / Leah Millis

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