Biden credit Trump administration with getting vaccine program working, however says it’s in ‘worse shape’ than anticipated
By Felicia Sonmez and Colby Itkowitz
Addressing reporters on the White House on Tuesday, Biden acknowledged the position of the Trump administration and public well being consultants in getting the coronavirus vaccine program up and working, however famous that he was stunned upon taking workplace to find that the initiative was in “worse shape” than he had anticipated.
“As I’ve said in the past, we want to give credit to everyone involved in this vaccine effort and the prior administration and the science community and the medical sphere for … getting the program off the ground,” Biden mentioned. “And that credit is absolutely due.”
He continued, “But it’s also no secret that we have recently discovered, in the final days of the transition — and it wasn’t until the final days we got the kind of cooperation we needed — that once we arrived, the vaccine program is in worse shape than we anticipated or expected.”
The Trump administration dragged its ft in permitting the presidential transition to proceed, hindering the Biden staff’s capability to swiftly take the reins of the pandemic response effort.
In his remarks Tuesday, Biden repeatedly referred to the nationwide coronavirus response plan as a “wartime undertaking,” noting that extra Americans died within the first yr of the pandemic than in all of World War II.
He additionally delivered an implicit critique of the Trump administration’s dealing with of the pandemic, saying: “We now have a national strategy to beat covid-19. It’s comprehensive. It’s based on science, not politics. It’s based on truth, not denial. And it is detailed.”
And he reminded Americans that whilst vaccines turn out to be extra extensively out there, social distancing and using masks are nonetheless essential in slowing the unfold of the virus.
“In the next few months, masks, not vaccines, are the best defense against covid-19,” Biden mentioned.
