President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday blasted the Trump administration’s efforts to distribute COVID-19 vaccines, with his remarks coming as the coronavirus pandemic has led to more than 336,000 U.S. deaths, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.
“The Trump administration’s plan to distribute vaccines is falling behind — far behind,” the veteran Democratic politician said in a speech in Wilmington, Del.
“A few weeks ago, the Trump administration suggested that 20 million Americans could be vaccinated by the end of December. With only a few days left in December, we’ve only vaccinated a few million so far.”
The U.S. so far has vaccinated 2.1 million people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
See: Health experts slam delayed COVID vaccine rollout in U.S.
Also read: MarketWatch’s Coronavirus Update — WHO says coronavirus pandemic is ‘not the big one’
“If it continues to move as it is now, it’s going to take years, not months, to vaccinate the American people,” Biden added. He said his incoming administration “will spare no effort to make sure people get vaccinated” and noted that he pledged earlier this month to get “at least 100 million COVID vaccine shots into the arms of the American people in the first 100 days.”
That promise came in a Dec. 8 speech, when he said he’ll focus on three goals in his first 100 days in office as he tackles the COVID crisis — “masking, vaccinations, opening schools.”
In Tuesday’s address, Biden also warned that “things are going to get worse before they get better.”
“We have to anticipate infections over the holidays will produce soaring case counts in January and soaring death tolls in February,” he said.
Biden said he’s “going to move heaven and earth to get us going in the right direction,” and his efforts will include accelerating the making of materials needed for the vaccines and launching a “massive” public education campaign to “increase vaccine acceptance.”
Related: What Biden’s first 100 days could mean for health care, energy and more key sectors
Ahead of Biden’s address on Tuesday afternoon, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received her first dose of Moderna’s
MRNA,
COVID-19 vaccine on live TV and encouraged Americans to get their shots when it’s their turn.
Biden gave a speech on Monday that focused on national security. He said political appointees in the Defense Department and other agencies have engaged in “obstruction” as his transition team seeks information about ongoing planning.
U.S. stocks
SPX,
COMP,
closed lower on Tuesday, a day after the main indexes closed at records following President Donald Trump’s decision to give in and sign a bipartisan aid bill into law.
This report was first published on Dec. 29, 2020.
