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WILMINGTON, Del. / WASHINGTON (REUTERS) – The first known U.S. case of a highly infectious variant of coronavirus was detected in Colorado on Tuesday (Dec. 29), and President-elect Joe Biden said it could take years for most Americans are vaccinated for the virus at current distribution rates.
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 administration will want to significantly increase spending. to accelerate vaccine distribution, expand testing. and provide funds to states to help reopen schools.
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 long feared and warned, the effort to distribute and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should,” said Biden in Wilmington, Delaware.
At the current rate, “it’s going to take years, not months, to vaccinate the American people.”
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 per 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 for the majority of the US population to be vaccinated,” 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 should also help make Covid-19 testing more readily available and help pay for protective equipment for healthcare workers, Biden added.
Harris receives the vaccine
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 everyone.
Harris, who is African-American and Asian-American, received the Moderna Inc Covid-19 vaccine from a nurse wearing a mask and visor at a predominantly black medical facility in Southeastern Washington.
Biden’s team has emphasized the importance of encouraging vaccine distribution and inoculation in non-white groups, especially affected by the coronavirus.
Biden has vowed to make fighting the coronavirus a top priority, which has infected more than 19 million people in the United States and killed more than 334,000. He received his first injected dose of the vaccine live on television last week. Two doses are required for complete protection.
Trump, who had Covid-19 in October, has often downplayed the severity of the pandemic and overseen a response that many health experts say was disorganized and arrogant, and at times ignored the science behind disease transmission.
Biden repeated his call for people to wear masks and listen to the advice of medical experts to avoid spreading the infection.
Dr. Atul Gawande, a member of Biden’s Covid-19 advisory board, told CBS News that the transition team did not yet have all the information they needed to understand the bottlenecks that hinder vaccine distribution.
He said the Trump administration may have set unrealistic expectations that everyone who wanted to get vaccinated would be able to do so by the end of June 2021.
Separately on Tuesday, United States Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell postponed a vote on Trump’s call to increase Covid-19 relief checks for Americans to $ 2,000 (S $ 2,657.7). ), in a rare challenge to his fellow Republican. Biden has said he favors the already approved $ 600 increase.
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