Biden vows 100m COVID-19 vaccinations in first 100 days
US President-elect Joe Biden announces members of his health team in Wilmington, Delaware. Reuters
Gulf Today Report
President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office on January 20, 2021, pledged that his administration would carry out at least 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days in office.
He also warned on Tuesday that coronavirus vaccination efforts in the United States will "slow and stall" if Congress does not urgently come up with funding.
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"There's a real chance that after an early round of vaccinations the effort will slow and stall," he told reporters. "We need Congress to finish the bipartisan work underway now or millions of Americans may wait months longer to get the vaccine."
Biden, who formally introduced his public health team on Tuesday, also announced he would nominate retired Army General Lloyd Austin as the country’s first Black defense secretary.
He also picked US Representative Marcia Fudge of Ohio to lead the Housing and Urban Development Department, and Tom Vilsack, the former agriculture secretary, to fill the same role again, according to news reports on Tuesday.
At a briefing in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said he needed Congress to fully fund delivering vaccines to all corners of the United States. Getting children back to school will be a national priority in the first 100 days, Biden said.
“In 100 days, we can change the course of the disease and change life in America for the better,” said Biden, who takes office on Jan.20. “Whatever your politics or point of view, mask up for 100 days.”
Biden’s first few months will likely be dominated by the pandemic, which is straining hospitals amid a nationwide resurgence.
The coronavirus has killed more than 283,000 Americans and caused millions to lose their jobs.
Effective vaccines would help the Biden administration turn its focus to healing the ailing US economy. The US Food and Drug Administration released documents on Tuesday raising no new issues about the safety or efficacy of Pfizer Inc’s vaccine, which could receive emergency authorization this month.
Biden introduced California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a Latino former congressman, as his nominee for secretary of health and human services. Becerra has a long record of supporting the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
