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WILMINGTON (AP) – US President-elect Joe Biden hailed news Monday that a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was 90 percent effective as “hope” but warned of a long battle ahead.
“I congratulate the brilliant women and men who helped produce this breakthrough and give us cause for hope,” Biden said in a statement, adding that he received advance notice of the announcement Sunday night.
“At the same time, it is also important to understand that the battle against COVID-19 is still months away,” he added, emphasizing the continued importance of mask use for the foreseeable future.
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This follows Biden’s previous announcement, during which he named the scientists who will lead his administration’s response to the pandemic, outlining his plans to prioritize COVID-19 from the outset.
The advisory board will be chaired by three co-chairs: epidemiologist and former Federal Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner David Kessler, former surgeon general Vivek Murthy and Yale professor of public health Marcella Nunez-Smith, according to a statement from the transition team. of Biden. .
In addition, the board will have ten members, ranging from immunologists and epidemiologists to biodefense experts and prominent public health officials.
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COVID-19 has left more than 237,000 people dead in the US, the worst death toll globally, and is rising across the country, which last week rejected Donald Trump in an exciting poll.
According to a tracker from Johns Hopkins University, the number of new cases in the US has surpassed 100,000 every 24 hours for several days in a row, and has surpassed 10 million in total, showing no signs of slowing down despite the Trump’s claim that the world’s largest economy is “rounding the corner.”
The pandemic remains “one of the most important battles our administration will face, and science and experts will inform me,” Biden said in the statement.
The board will help shape its focus on increasing cases across the country, as well as ensuring that a safe vaccine is distributed efficiently while protecting populations at risk.
READ: WHO chief hopes to work ‘very closely’ with Biden’s team
The president-elect has promised that they will create a plan that he will begin to implement on the first day of his presidency.
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have announced that they will receive a joint debriefing on the virus Monday in Wilmington, Delaware from their advisory team.
Then, Biden will deliver comments on the coronavirus and economic recovery.
